


The 1K

by Windryder1



Category: Original Work
Genre: 1999, Action/Adventure, Aliens, Armageddon, Bounty Hunters, DNA modifiction, Earth, Family, Friendship, Gen, Original Fiction, Outer Space, Profound Bond, Science Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Space Battles, Will and Terra - Freeform, Y2K, dooms day, experiements, scifi, space, space travel, the 1k
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2019-08-15
Packaged: 2019-09-28 10:47:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 135,308
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17181512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Windryder1/pseuds/Windryder1
Summary: William Kade and Terra Kitridge - two kids abducted from Earth among 1,000 children - have to avoid capture by the Regents and the Xox as they roam the galaxy with a pair of outlaws to figure out who and what they have become.The One Thousand are rumored to end the two-millennia reign of the Xox, thus the hope they engender - and their lives - hold immeasurable value.





	1. Transmission

**Author's Note:**

> *Each chapter will contain a random fact about the characters or the world, for fun. :) They will always appear at the end of the chapter.  
> Happy reading! ^_^
> 
> Link to the video that started this whole thing, made 10/16/2018.  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFQdtTeHr6E

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> William Kade always dreamed of traveling to space. However, his and 999 other kids's lives are changed dramatically when an unknown alien race kidnaps them hours before the turn of the 21st century.

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 1**

_December 18th, 1999. Southern Ohio. Earth…_

 

 The chunky television in the living room played a news report through the old farmhouse. 

“What’s out there? No one really knows. Man has speculated for centuries, mapped our star system, named the planets, and created gods in order to explain the vastness surrounding our blue world.”

Will watched from the round dinner table through the archway between the rooms. He shoveled a spoonful of Mac and Cheese into his mouth, barely registering the fact that it was food and not just a simple motion. The ten-year-old’s attention rested solely on the screen. His big brown eyes took in every frame behind his glasses.   
“We look up at the stars, we listen to Carl Sagan speak of the cosmos, and study Stephen Hawking’s discoveries. We dream about what we might encounter among the billions of stars burning in the heavens, and we send satellites into orbit and beyond to be our eyes and ears into the unknown. The Hubble telescope has already shown us incredible images we would never have otherwise witnessed. Why? Because we are earthbound. But although we are young, we are curious and brave. In the words of Carl Sagan, ‘We wish to pursue the truth no matter where it leads. But to find the truth, we need imagination and skepticism both. We will not be afraid to speculate, but we will be careful to distinguish speculation from fact.’

“That is what drives the path-finding team of scientists and engineers at NASA. With the invention of the new Solar Nexus - a net of satellites in high orbit maintained by the International Space Station--, we can harness energy from our sun to power the world’s first inter-system ship. This ship will be capable of transporting not only goods and machinery to our closest neighbor, Mars, but transporting people, and someday, be the vessel that leads us into a new age of a lunar colony and life among the stars. 

“The prototype --the Nova Star-- will be open to the public at Cape Canaveral for only one day. Scientists, astronomers, and space enthusiasts from all over the world will gather to get an up-close-and-personal look...at the future of mankind. 

“Join us on New Years Eve for a live broadcast as we take you on a tour of Earth’s first inter-system vessel, and usher in the new millennium. Welcome to the new erra of space flight.” He couldn’t keep the smile from pouring through those monumental words. “And now back to Fred in the studio. Fred?--”

The picture winked out.

“Dad,” Will whined, “I was watching that.”

“It’s daydreams and nonsense,” his father flicked the paper, folded it, and rested it next to his own plate. 

“It’s cool! It’s a new era in space flight! He said it! We can have a space ship! We can explore the galaxy and be like Indiana Jones, but in space! I wanna fly it.”

“Indiana Jones fought Nazis. Not aliens,” his father countered.

“We don’t know that. Those face-melting angels were probably aliens. They went after the Nazis all like, ‘Rawr!’ And they were all like, ‘wuuaaah! Blaarrrgg!’” Will dragged his fingers down his face, making guttural sounds and pretending to melt into a puddle of goo.

“No face melting at the table,” his mother chided gently. “It’s hard to get out of the carpet.”

Will stopped the dramatics of a grim death-by-ancient-relic, and went back to eating. “Can we watch it on New Years Eve?”

“We always watch Dick Clark. It’s a tradition.” 

“Yeah, but,” Will’s voice huffed with the blandness of repetition, “this is cooler than an old man! It’s space! Please, dad?” 

“Charlie, let’s watch it,” his mother nudged her husband in the side. “Even if the space ship doesn’t work out, I have to admit it is pretty neat. Like when Kirk landed the Enterprise in the middle of San Francisco.”

Charlie rolled his eyes. He knew his wife was a sci-fi nerd, but he’d hoped she’d at least settle down some after Will was born. Thanks to her, he now knows most of the script to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and Star Wars IV, V, and VI.

“See? Mom gets it,” the young boy gave a cocky smile in victory. “Oh! I forgot. Last night, I picked up that weird signal again over the radio.”

“I listened to it once already. It’s white noise.” Charlie said.

“No it’s not! There’s a weird blippy pattern to it.” Will spoke around a mouthful of macaroni and cheese. “Noise is all ‘kkkrrrrr!’ This was all ‘kkkrr beep boop bleep!’ and something that sounds like a million people talking at once. I read that stars emit radio waves. Maybe this was--”

“Noise.”

“It wasn’t noise!”  
“I was a member of the US Signal Corp for 20 years. When I gave you my old CB radio, I wanted you to learn how to navigate the airwaves. Not keep your head in the clouds.” He picked up the paper. “Besides. If it’s that important, the guys at NASA probably already picked it up. If it’s something of serious importance, I’d have gotten a call.”

“You were their best communications guy, dad. Can you listen to it again? Please?”

“Leave it alone, Will.”

Will reached over for the remote, but his dad smacked his hand away with the paper. He grumbled, pouted, and said, “Whatever. Not like you’d believe me anyway.”

“Will,” his mother scolded.

Charlie leaned forward. “Repeat yourself, son. I don’t think I heard that,” but by his tone, the muffled slightly clearly reached him. 

Will glanced up to his dad, but kept his mouth shut.

Charlie reclined back in the chair again. “That’s what I thought. Go to your room.”

Will’s jaw dropped. “But--”  
“Now!” 

Silenced, Will slammed the spoon against the plate. The chair scratched against the old linoleum floor as his feet thundered up the stairs. The sound of his bedroom door slamming against its frame echoed downstairs. 

Molly sighed. “Every time. Why can’t you two get along?”

“We have to fix the problems here on the ground before we go looking for problems out there,” Charlie’s face softened. “He needs to understand that. If we can’t fix ourselves, we can’t go anywhere.”

“It’s because NASA built the ship, isn’t it,” she uttered softly, knowing full well she was treading on emotional hot coals. “It’s been three years. When are you going to let this go?”

“Hughs is an idiot if he thinks this will work. He doesn’t see the big picture. He never did.” Charlie dropped the paper onto the round kitchen table -- signaling that the conversation was over --, picked up the remote, and moved to the living room to watch a football game. 

Molly picked up her son’s half-finished dinner. “Maybe letting him dream is a way to fix ourselves.” She covered his plate in plastic wrap and stuck it in the refrigerator. Her son could down twice this much food in one sitting. He would be hungry later.

 

Will turned on his small t.v., picked up his SNES controller, and dropped cross-legged on the floor surrounded by a dirty clothes strewn across the rug. The sounds of Super Mario World covered the silence. Snow drifted lazily to the ground outside the window, so he couldn’t go lay out on a blanket in the backyard like he usually would and get lost staring up at the stars. Well, he could, but he didn’t want to get pneumonia.

He abandoned Blue Yoshi at Star Road and shut off the game, flopping to his back. He’d begged his parents for ages for an N64 or a PS1, but both had said ‘no.’ That is until his father told him he could earn an N64 if he could find a new hidden code.

It was a game his father had played with him since he was five years old. If he could find a code his father would hide within noise, then he would get a predetermined prize. As he grew up, the codes became more difficult to hear. The latest one would come soon. When the fated day arrived, he would be ready. His gaming and social acceptance future depended on it.

Curious about the other odd transmission, and a little bored, he turned on the old military radio and worked the dials carefully. He listened through monitor headphones too big for his head for a half hour before finally tossing them onto his desk in frustration. Nothing. Maybe his dad was right. Maybe it was just noise. 

  
  


\----

 

_ December 31st, 1999. New Years Eve… _

 

Y2K theories had circulated for years. No one knew where it started, but the concept that the Earth’s fledgling internet, and every digital system on the planet would shut down frightened some enough into preparing for DoomsDay. Most people shrugged it off and went about their lives. Others feared the global shut down would set off every nuclear weapon on the planet, wiping out humanity. But everyone knew that instant ramen manufacturers had never seen a greater profit rise in the entirety of their companies’ existence. 

Will didn’t buy into any of that, no matter how much the old people in their small town ranted about the end of days. He was sure the clocks would just turn over, and that would be it. He and his mother had gone to the local market to pick up a few groceries, but found that the paranoid apocalypse conspiracy theorists had bought all the milk, most of the meat, a ton of non perishable goods, and first aid. If those people had a specific nomenclature, he didn’t know it. His family just called them idiots. There was no way the entire world would end just because the clock ticked over to a new millennium. It was amazingly fantastic to be alive at this specific point in time - to witness the turn of the new century. 

Frustrated at the lack of grocery choices, she purchased what she could, and made the trip in their SUV to the next town. Fortunately, they faired a little better. They enjoyed lunch at a local Denny’s, and made it home to have an uneventful night. 

That is, until 11pm rolled around. 

Will was over the back of the couch in seconds, and had the t.v. tuned into the news. The reporter had just started going on about the details of the Nova Star. Will was entranced. He was so excited, he’d put on his long sleeved black henley with a small NASA meatball logo embroidered on the left breast to feel like he was part of it. His mother gave it to him to his father’s chagrin. “This is awesome! Hey, dad, aren’t those the guys you worked with?”

“Some of them. There’s some new faces.” Charlie put on his jacket and went to the backyard to chop wood. He’d tried to let his son enjoy this, but he didn’t want to have anything to do with the Nova Star project anymore, not even watching them parade their work to the media. 

Molly sat next to her son with a bowl of popcorn. Will didn’t hesitate to take a massive handful and shove it into his mouth as he watched the tour of the Nova Star begin. 

With everything that her only child held an interest in --video games, computers, that old radio-- they had their shared love of space, and Indiana Jones. 

The media crew had lead their viewers through the cockpit and down to the living quarters of the ship, showing off all of the exciting wonders of the newest space-faring technology when all the lights in the house went out. It plunged the remote homestead into darkness. 

The shock of sudden darkness sent fear spearing up Will’s spine. He knocked over the popcorn bowl and curled up around a pillow. 

“Molly? Everything all right?” Charlie called in through the back door.

“We’re fine!” Molly called back.

“I’m checking the breaker box. Bring a light!”

“I’ll be right there!” She brushed her hand over Will’s hair. “It’s ok, Will, it’s just a power outage. Probably a tree branch took out a power line. It happens in winter.” She knew that even though he could pick up almost any insect, amphibian, and fearlessly explore the areas around their house, the only thing that would terrify him was complete and absolute darkness. 

She felt her way to the kitchen to get a spare flashlight out of the junk drawer and handed it to Will. He turned it on.

“Guard the house, Indiana. I’ll be right back.” Molly ruffled his dark hair and got a second flashlight and her coat from the entryway closet. She went out back to help her husband check the fuse box. 

Molly held the flashlight as her husband flicked all the switches.

“Well, the breakers check out. There’s just no power,” Charlie threw each switch again for good measure.

“I was right. It was probably a downed tree.” She turned off the light and walked out to the backyard. She folded her arms tightly around her middle for warmth. Without the convection layer of clouds, it made being outside that much colder. 

Charlie put his arm around her. “So much for New Years Eve; Dick Clark, spaceships, or otherwise.” 

Her eyes rested on the arm of the Milky Way galaxy draping through the center of the clear night sky. “You know, without all the lights, it’s really beautiful.”

Charlie exhaled. “Yeah.”

“What arm are we in again?”

“The Orion-Cygnus arm. We’re not facing the core of the galaxy right now, but we will in summer.”

“Will comes out here, you know. He’ll sit out here and just stare.”

“Mmhmm. You used to do that as a kid, too. He gets his love of space from you.”

“No,” she shook her head. “He gets his love of nerd stuff from me. He gets his sense of adventure from you.”

He chuckled at that. “A hell of a combination.”

“Well, look who he’s combined from,” she smirked.

He chuckled at that. 

“Maybe the new century is a good time to start a new resolution. Start off small. Who knows what he can do if we let him.”

“Molly…”

“He’s smart, Charlie. Work with him. Take him to NASA. If you want him to see the world that you think needs fixing, then show him. He might be the one to fix it, but he needs you. As smart as he is, he can’t do it alone.” She brushed her hand down his face, feeling the stubble of a five o’clock shadow beneath her palm. “None of us can.”

Charlie grumbled. NASA’s headquarters wasn’t a place for kids, but she was right. It was part of the real world, and Will needed to see it. “Fine. I’ll take him after the holidays. But if anybody asks, this was your idea.”

She smiled and leaned in closely. “I’ll take full responsibility.”

He couldn’t help but kiss her and run his fingers through her long black hair. That gentle smile always warmed his heart. 

The two stared up at the sky for a moment before she shivered and nudged her husband to head back. 

A pulse of red light struck them in the back, and Charlie and Molly fell to the snow.

 

Will scooted off the couch, keeping a vice grip on the flashlight. This was his home -- he’d lived here since birth -- but in the darkness, it felt like he’d entered another realm. 

The house creaked around him. He spun, looking for whatever made that sound, then shook his head. “Get a grip, you dumb dork.” 

A light static and crackle split the deathly silence. He aimed his flashlight at the stairs and swallowed. That sounded like his radio. He should check it out. Indiana Jones wouldn’t run away. 

Will’s feet didn’t move for a good ten seconds. 

Stealing his resolve, he went upstairs to his room. 

The green light of the radio exuded a dull, eerie glow throughout the room. What scared him more were the sounds coming from the radio itself. Without power, the light shouldn’t be on, let alone the radio receiving a signal. His heart pounding with fear, but his curiosity overpowering it, he turned the knob to clarify the signal. The electronic beeps were still present, but were more like morse code than before. He could pick out different letters, enough to hear ‘246. Kade,’ but any speech in the background remained unfamiliar syllables and plosives. 

Kade... That was his last name, but what did 246 mean? Someone out there was using morse code and talking about them for some reason. He had to tell his dad. This was definitely not noise.

Abandoning his fear, Will hurried downstairs, put on his winter coat and boots, and rushed outside into the cold snow. His warm breath clouded in the air. “Dad! You gotta hear this! Dad!” He ran around to the back of the house to the breaker box. “Dad? Mom?” They were gone. No one was there. Will shone his flashlight on the ground. The melted snow beneath the overhang protecting that part of the house showed their footprints walking away. 

He peaked around the corner. “Mom?” 

His parents lay on their backs with their eyes open.

“Mom!” Will hurried as fast as his small legs could carry him to the middle of the large yard. He dropped at his father’s side. “Dad! Are you ok?! Mom!”

Neither moved, but light puffs of warm air escaped their mouths. They were alive, just paralyzed. Charlie’s mouth moved slightly. “Run,” he whispered.

“Dad, no!” Will pulled on his father’s hand to try to pull him to his feet. 

Charlie’s hand trembled as he fought the paralysis. Molly twitched beside him, fighting her own battle.

A glaring light lit up the wintery yard, blinding him. Will covered his eyes and stumbled back. He blinked upward as enormous spotlights shone down on their position. 

“Run!” Charlie screamed. 

Will instantly took off across the yard. A red pulse hit the snow at his right, forcing him to dodge in an arch. He evaded one more hit to his left, but the third landed its mark. Will’s entire body froze. He struggled to move even a finger, but it had him completely paralyzed. 

A rush of warm air blasted the snow into swirls of white clouds around them. Will faced the lights from a craft larger than his house as a long ramp lowered and a single individual descended it quickly. It looked like a man in a dark armored uniform, but his face was covered by a protective mask with orange tinted eyewear. 

Will’s heart threatened to explode from his chest as he breathed rapidly in fear. 

The man removed Will’s glasses, passed a scanner over his wide brown eyes, then put his glasses back on and spoke. The language mirrored that of the transmission Will had received off and on for the past few weeks. 

A sharp pain pricked in the soft space behind his right ear. Will let out a small squeak of surprise. He felt a tingle brush through his mind like someone had taken a feather and gently swiped it all over his brain. The sensation died seconds later. 

The man said something to him. 

Will couldn’t think straight. 

Irritated, the man rolled his eyes, grumbled, and then said it again, more impatiently.

Will’s eyes shifted to stare at his mother and father fighting the paralysis.

The man said something else in frustration then gave up and picked him up.

Will struggled to fight, but his muscles refused to obey him. He watched his parents helplessly as he was carried up the ramp. The panic built, and he did the only thing his body would allow: he let out a terrified, wordless scream for help. The ramp closed, shutting his parents and home out of sight.

The ship’s atmospheric thrusters sent more snow clouds billowing through the air as it rose above the trees, pivoted, and disappeared across the sky. 

All of this took no more than two minutes. 

Molly and Charlie were left alone in the winter stillness of their yard. They could move enough to grip each other’s hands as the bind gradually wore off, but remained in the cold staring at the empty sky. 

The power returned ten minutes later.

They continued to lay there even as the news switched over to the countdown.

“...5...4...3...2...1…”

A hot tear streaked down Molly’s face to drip into the snow.  
“HAPPY NEW YEAR!”

* * * *

tbc

 

* * * *

((I really wish I could translate what the alien said as he carried Will into the ship, but it would break the mood. The alien said, “246 Acquired. Let’s go. It’s colder than tits out here.”))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #1: William Eric Kade.  
> Will is half Japanese, half American. ‘Molly’ is his mother’s Americanized name. Her native Japanese name is Kaori Yukimura. She moved from Kyoto to Ohio with her parents when she was 5yrs old. Will's father, Charlie Kade, is a blonde haired, blue eyed American of nordic/germanic descent -, born and raised in Williamsburg, Ohio. He and Molly were childhood sweethearts. 
> 
> Will was born in Williamsburg, and lived there for the first year of his life. His father moved the family to Florida so he wouldn't have to be away from home for weeks at a time working on the Nova Star project. When he left his job at Cape Canaveral, he moved his family back to their hometown when Will was 3yrs old to his family's old farmstead, and got a part time job working as a mechanic for a local shop for a little extra income on top of the money from NASA. He kept himself available to help with the project if the newbies who took over his old position got stuck on a problem. Charlie was a genius. 
> 
> Will is incredibly adept at picking up minute changes in audio frequencies, and he wears glasses due to having severe nearsightedness, abliopia of his left eye, and an astigmatism. Because of that, he could never be a pilot, even though his dream was to fly the Nova Star. He doesn't like anyone to hear him, but he knows how to sing, and he's pretty good at it.
> 
> ((Giving him the name "Will" was something I always intended to do. I've been very close to giving previous story characters that name for years, but none of them really fit until now. This IS my Will. This is finally his story. - but having his home town called Williamsburg was a pun I couldn't resist.
> 
> The character of Will was in my head in various formations for many years, but now this is the time for the true Will to shine.))


	2. Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will panics, unable to speak until one person pulls him out of the grip of fear - one person who becomes part of his life forever.  
> He, the 49 other abducted children on the Morning Star, and the fifty children on board each of the other 19 alien ships witness the grim outcome of Y2K.

((art of Will and Terra commissioned from mis-matching art - tumblr. - http://mis-matching.tumblr.com/ ))

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 2** **  
**

Will’s world became a blur of unfamiliar sights, sounds, and smells that assaulted his senses. 

The recycled air held a slight metallic tang. The bright rectangular lights lining the top edges of the corridor his attacker carried him down created a strobe effect, flashing over him as each one took him deeper into the alien craft. He was carried around a corner toward a double wide door split down the middle like someone had cut it at an angle. The man tapped on a lit interface lock and the door ‘wooshed’ open. 

The sounds of crying swallowed him whole.

Children just like him sat on unusually designed cots, huddled by cargo crates bearing writing that wasn’t like anything he’d ever seen in his young life. Some of the children hugged each other, and a few others stared at the walls, emotionless --or in so much shock that they couldn’t feel. A few of the older teenagers comforted some of the smaller children, and each other, but even they shook from fear. A girl about seventeen hugged a six-year-old boy crying for his mother in Spanish. She tried to console him in Japanese.

He caught bits and pieces of English through the melange of completely unfamiliar languages as well. 

A small handful of men and women dressed in green and blue uniforms moved among the kids, speaking to them in a weird language, and trying to calm the ones buried in pure panic.

Will’s mind froze. 

He’d been abducted by aliens.

Spirited away from his home, warm bed, and family in the middle of the night. The cacophony of whimpers, cries, and the subtle deep bass of the craft’s engines became a whirlpool of confusion.

The man laid him down on a vacant cot, then turned and said something to a woman with short dark hair, wearing a blue unarmored uniform. She nodded in understanding of his explanation, then looked to Will. Her subordinate hurried out of the room. She said something in her weird language as she walked over.

Will struggled to move, but the paralysis kept its ice-cold grip on his muscles. 

The woman asked him a question, waited, then asked again. She pressed a slim metal tube to his neck and clicked it once.

He felt a pinch, but that was it. 

She used another similar device, and his muscles relaxed. Whatever she administered the second time counteracted the paralysis. The first injection was a mystery. 

She spoke to him with a concerned expression and reached out to touch his face gently. 

Terrified, he scrambled back. He rolled and fell off the side of the bed, scooting backwards away from her. He pulled the flashlight from his pocket and turned it on directly in her face. Shining a light in the darkness kept the monsters away. Even though the room was fully lit, it was all he could think to do. 

She winced from the light beam, then said something else in a soft tone, but a voice from another man working at a console in the corner stopped her. She exhaled, shook her head, and went to speak to him. Two other men carrying a thick rifle-like gun kept a keen watch on the children. 

The air inside the ship was decidedly warmer than the freezing cold of his backyard, but Will shivered regardless. He scrambled back up against a crate and pulled his knees up, keeping the flashlight trained on the dark haired woman. 

He couldn’t understand half of the kids in this room. He couldn’t understand his alien captors. His heart raced, and his breathing became so rapid, he felt he would pass out. The room began to tilt as he felt dissociated from reality. He’d been abducted by aliens. This couldn’t be happening. This had to be a nightmare. 

One of the women in a green uniform approached him. His mouth opened to scream, but he was locked in absolute terror. He couldn’t think, couldn’t remember his name, and couldn’t even make a sound. 

“You have to say something,” a high pitched, young voice broke through the mad rush of panic flooding his mind. He blinked and snapped his attention to her.

The woman in green stopped and watched. 

“She’s asking you to talk.” A girl about his age sat down to his left. She locked her large green eyes on him. Strands of straight, chestnut brown hair loosed from her ponytail, and she tucked them behind her ear. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying. “If you talk, you can understand them. You can understand everyone.”

Will’s mouth moved as he tried to force his overloaded mind to calm down, but his voice locked in his throat. He tried to speak, but all that came out were small gasps and sounds.

She got up and brought over a purple backpack, unzipped it, and pulled out a red CD player and headphones. 

Will stiffened when she placed them over his ears and pushed play. 

The soothing sounds of Eric Clapton’s ‘Change the World’ drowned out the audio maelstrom. He blinked. If she was trying to settle him down, it was working. He focused entirely on her-- on her dirtied, warm-toned, multi colored striped sweater, purple jeans, and pink converse, and on her soft, but tear-filled gaze, and the room’s full lighting on her hair. The music surrounded her and drowned out the room. The whole scene locked into his memory. This was her song. 

She waited until his breathing had calmed down and he slid the headphones off. 

“I like that song. Did it help?” She scooted closer, half because she wanted to comfort this boy, and half because she didn’t want to be alone. Something about him drew her to him. He tried to protect himself and find a way to fight back, showing that he was brave, but he was also frightened, and she didn’t want to see that.  “My name’s Emma. What’s yours?

“W-Will,” he managed. He licked his dry lips.

The woman in green smiled slightly and left to tend to another child.

At that moment, another teenage girl, an eleven-year-old, was brought in and laid on a cot. He watched the alien woman remove her paralysis. The girl said something in Russian, which he couldn’t understand. The woman consoled her as best she could, and the girl nodded. 

“Say something else. You need to talk more, or it won’t work,” Emma poked him in the shoulder. “What’s your favorite color?”

He swallowed hard. “Blue.”

“And your favorite movie?”

His mind forgot any of them, so all he said was, “I-Indiana Jones.” 

“How old are you?”

“Ten… a-and a half.”

“Me, too.” She sat at his left, shoulder to shoulder, and sniffled. “You’re really scared. I’m gonna stay here.”

“No. I-I’m not,” he lied.

“Well, I’m really scared.”

“Wh-why do I have to talk just so I can under...stand…everyone…?” 

As he spoke, the languages from the other kids morphed into English. His jaw dropped as the two adults conversing at the console in an alien tongue gradually shifted into recognizable syllables and plosives. Everyone in the room now spoke his native language with perfect fluency. He couldn’t look more confused if he tried.

“Hey! Shut that light off, you little shit, or I’ll do it for you,” one of the teenage boys that had originally been speaking Mandarin snarled at him.

Will clicked the flashlight off instantly. 

The teenager frowned, ran his hand through his hair, and paced the room. 

“I don’t get it. What’s going on?” he remembered the fuzzy feeling crawling through his brain at the moment of abduction, and recalled some of the sci-fi shows he’d watched growing up. He touched the back of his right ear, but felt only the tiny point where the needle pierced his skin. His kidnapper had spoken to him, and Will realized he had been trying to get him to respond in order for the tech to calibrate to his language. “A translator?”

“That’s what the lady told me,” Emma looked toward the adults. “She said these bananites listen to what we say, and then they help us understand people after that.”

“N-nanites. Not...not bananites.”

“I like ‘bananites,” she frowned. “It makes them less scary.”

He could empathize with that. There was now alien technology in his brain that he had no control over. It creeped him out.  
Another child about age seven was brought in and laid on a cot. The woman administered the same treatment to remove the paralysis. The little girl cried for her family and curled up into a ball on the bed. Her long black hair fell over her face. 

Emma was about to get up to help her like she helped Will, when the grumpy teenager moved over, glared at the woman, and picked up the girl. She clung to his neck like he was long lost family. 

Will kept his grip on the flashlight just in case. “What do they want with us?”

“I don’t know. They haven’t told us anything. I’m number two-twelve. You’re two-forty-six.” 

“Two-forty-six…?” he muttered. That was the same number he’d picked up over the radio along with his last name. So, the transmission came from this ship, and they were discussing him as their next target. “How did you know?” he asked.

“It’s on your bed,” she pointed to his cot bearing a small screen at the head with the number 246 in green text. The other cots bore the exact same feature. All but two of them were green. The last two were red. These were designations by their captors to make it easy to keep track of them.

Terra’s bottom lip trembled and her fists closed around the fabric of her sweater.  “I’m scared, Will.”

He bit his lip and feigned bravery, like he hadn’t just been on the verge of wetting his pants. “I-I’m not.”

“Liar,” she wiped her arm across her eyes. 

“Shut up,” he muttered halfheartedly. He watched as another teenager about thirteen was brought in next and given cot 249. Only one cot remained empty. He counted fifty in total, and could finally processes thoughts clearly enough to see they were all kept in a converted cargo hold. 

The last child, a blond-haired, blue-eyed ten year old was brought in a few minutes later. 

Before the kid even made it to his cot, the man at the console tapped in a command into the computer, and an electric spark flashed around the edges of the wide cargo bay door. “All fifty Terrans are accounted for, captain.”

“Good work,” the woman said. “Notify the Polaris. This is going to be a close one.”

A fourteen-year-old Indian girl stepped forward. “Why did you kidnap us? What do you want?”

She gained approval support from a few of the other kids who’d calmed down enough to test their bravery.

“Anahita Navari,” the captain checked the list on the console, then stepped forward. “ Two-Oh-One.”

“I am not a number!” she trembled, her anger overriding her fear. “Explain yourself! We deserve that much at least.”

“Are you going to experiment on us?” a kid with shaggy blond hair and blue eyes behind round glasses asked fearfully. “Is that what that other shot was?”

“I don’t wanna be probed!” his friend with short dark hair and blue eyes covered his own buttcheeks.

“That won’t happen,” she gestured to the blond kid, “and don’t be ridiculous,” she motioned to the other. ”That first injection was an inoculation for your safety. But you are right, Anahita,” she conceded, learning and forgoing their numbers. “We rescued you.”

“From what?” Will found the question squeaked out before he could stop it. 

At her wordless order, the cargo bay door unlocked and slid upward. The blue spark from before formed a force field that kept the atmosphere locked within the ship. 

Will’s eyes widened at the expansive panoramic view of space--cold, clear, and dark. The light of the sun beamed down on the opposite side of the massive cerulean orb of Earth slowly pulling away from them. … Or rather, they were pulling away from it. 

Everyone turned, immediately speechless and entranced. 

Will stuffed the flashlight in his pocket and slowly got to his feet. Emma stood with him. The sight completely mesmerized him. He didn’t want to blink. He could make out the Arctic circle and the shapes of North and South America covered in a spiderweb of lights. He’d never witnessed anything more stunningly beautiful in his life.

A small fleet of spaceships the same as theirs were leaving high orbit with them like darts fired from a gun. In fact, his ship was the furthest behind. Satelites drifted by.

He was in space. 

Emma gripped his hand tightly.

One of the older teenage girls with dark skin covered her mouth beneath wide brown eyes and gripped the hand of another teenage girl with red hair beside her. Both held onto each other as though that bond would keep them from falling into the abyss. 

The woman’s expression fell when she answered Will. “From that.”

They watched in anticipation. After a tense moment, a slow moving blackout rolled across the globe like someone laying a velvet blanket over the continents. A few bright explosions of orange light began to flare up one after another for a full minute in sparse points, adding an eerie pinprick luminosity, and then suddenly...nothing. The planet existed in a haunting silence.

The Earth’s armageddon had come moments after midnight.

Someone screamed. 

A few began crying. Some called out in horror for their parents. Most simply stood, stunned, and not knowing how to react.

Even if it physically remained, and humanity could rebuild, the world they knew was gone. 

“Captain,” the officer at the console got the woman’s attention. “Terra’s power grids are offline. Multiple nuclear explosions detected, but not enough to plunge the planet into a nuclear winter.”

The woman exhaled in relief. “Thank god.” 

Everyone stared, dumbfounded and absorbed in the mind-numbing shock. 

“Take us back,” Anahita whispered. “I want to go home. Take us back now!”

The woman shook her head. “We can’t do that. If we took you back, the galaxy would lose more than just a planet.”

“Why?” Anahita demanded. “You haven’t given us a straight answer yet!”

“The Xox have entered the system, Captain,” the officer announced. 

“Close the bay door.” She ordered. She addressed the room. “As long as all one thousand of you remain off world, Terra is safe. If we take you back..what you just saw will be a scratch in comparison to what the Xox will do.” she paused. “You won’t have a world to go back to. I’ll explain more in detail later. For now, you’re safe.” 

Her com crackled to life with a stiff male voice. “This is Captain Torm of the Polaris. All ships make the jump to the first point as soon as possible. We’ll rendezvous at the fourth point.”

She pressed her finger to a node behind her right ear. “This is Captain Linell of the Morning Star. Acknowledge. Bridge. Get us the hell out of here.” Her jaw tightened. They’d almost been too late in getting the children off world.

Will watched a few of the ships disappear into streaks of light. Seconds before the massive metal barricade shut out the view of the darkened planet, he caught sight of a massive, ship in the distance as large as the moon, backlit by the sun. Its deep curves sported jagged barbs like porcupine quills, and parts of it were hollow resembling the bones of a skeletal arm. Streaks of electric blue glowed within cracks on its black surface, like it was alive. The nightmarish ship cemented in his mind forever.

He wondered if anybody else saw that.

Captain Linell’s tone lilted down to a more somber sense. “I am truly sorry about your planet. You have the condolences of the Regents, the Masakan Federation, and the entire galaxy.”

Her heart broke for them. They were humans, the same as her own people, albeit Terrans. Regardless of their birth place, they were still innocent children who had just lost everything. “We’ll bring you something to eat, try to help you adjust, and mourn the loss of your families properly.”

She smiled sadly, trying to offer them comfort, then bowed before she left to return to the bridge. The armed guard and the officer remained to watch over their precious cargo. 

However, her words held very little effect on the traumatized group. All fifty children broke out into various floods of sorrow; some loud and emotional, and some torn and silent.

Will continued to stare at the cargo bay door. The last thing his parents heard was his terrified scream for help. His mom and dad, his school, the greenery of home, NASA and the Nova Star spaceship, his friends… all were either gone, or now living in a post apocalyptic world he could never return to. And he didn’t even get to say good-bye. 

“Terra,” Tears spilled down Emma’s pink cheeks. “My name is Terra,” her voice cracked. “I don’t want to forget, Will.” She sniffled. “I don’t want to ever forget.”

Will wanted to jump from the ship with Emma...no...Terra, and swim back to Earth to get home so badly his chest ached.  He wanted to grab his parents and anyone else who survived and save them.  He was barely aware of the tears creating paths down his own small face beneath his lenses. He gripped her hand. She suddenly became a powerful, tangible source of comfort and stability when all he wanted to do was scream as loudly as his voice would allow. She was now everything he had left.

Unable to keep control over her sorrow anymore, she hugged this boy who was a stranger not long before, and cried. Will was now the most important person in the galaxy to her, and all she had left. 

The Morning Star jumped smoothly to FTL, and left the Earth behind for the aliens to decide its fate. 

* * * *

tbc

* * * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #2: Emma "Terra" Ann Kitridge  
> Terra was picked up by the Regents in a playground on her way back from her friend's house in Marina del Rey in Southern California. (What we call "Playa Vista" in our reality is part of Marina del Rey in this reality. It extended over to the marshlands and into the old Howard Hughes airfield where developments were built in the 90's. Unlike our reality where it wasn't developed for residential use until the 00's).
> 
> She was born and raised there. Her family was well-off financially. Her parents have been divorced since she was 3yrs old, and her mother had custody. The neighborhood they lived in was relatively safe, so she had the freedom to come and go from her best friend's house on the next street over as much as she wanted. The playground was on a lot between the two streets. Terra gave the Regents a good chase, but they caught her at the jungle gym. All on-lookers were too terrified to leave the house. She was picked up at 5pm pst, and never got to see her mother that night.


	3. The Aurora Star

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The one thousand children abducted from Earth learn exactly why they were spirited away, and are given a chance to say good-bye.

 

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 3**

 

_Six hours later…_

 

All twenty of the space craft met up at the pre-designated rendezvous point as planned. They dropped out of FTL between the fourth and fifth jump points. The bright rift closed behind them, leaving them in the middle of a stellar spectacle - a nebula swirling with hues of cool shades flecked with pink. The yellow sun of the solar system shone at its edge. 

However, the most beautiful and alluring feature was the slash of the neighboring spiral galaxy. It’s core glowed brightly, and billions of stars trailed out to either side like a shock wave frozen in time. Though it appeared close enough to touch, no civilizations alive in this galaxy had extended its reach into those stars. Not even the Xox. 

None of that mattered to the fifty Terran children kept in the cargo bay of the alien craft. 

Most of the crying had died down. They were all now in a state of numbness. Occasionally, someone would sniffle and sob, but it wouldn’t last long. Another person would comfort them.   
During the first few hours, the Regents had given each child a medical check-up in the ship’s medbay. They were told it was a basic procedure to identify and treat or cure any illnesses - like cancer, diabetes, and colds or the flu. Any child with a chronic condition, more serious condition, bound to a wheelchair, or who lost a limb were given priority to be treated on their new homeworld at the highest level. The Masakan’s prosthetic technology - along with many others- were far beyond Earth’s advancements. They couldn’t cure everything, but by comparison, Earth was in the medical dark ages.

Will and Terra were no exception to the exam. Being scanned and poked quickly for a painless blood draw within a futuristic setting (to their understanding) kept them on edge.

An eight year old in the bed across the room from them cried, “I don’t want to be here! Get away from me! I want to go home! Mom!” He had to be lightly sedated so they could complete the exam.

He felt bad for him and just as scared. He didn’t like hospitals, and this was just another one, but in space. A space hospital. 

Will tried not to squirm on the soft bed when they asked him to lie down for a portion of the exam. Semi-transparent screens lit up to either side and over him.  He couldn’t help feeling like he was the victim of a malicious alien abduction, prepped to be probed, implanted, and experimented on. He was abducted, yes, but the medical staff couldn’t have been more careful with him and understanding of his trepidation. His exam went smoothly. Aside from his severe nearsightedness and astigmatism, he was in perfect health.

He was told that his eyesight couldn't be repaired onboard, but he would be taken immediately to a medical facility on his new homeworld. He asked where they were sending him, but they stayed silent. Either the kind doctor didn’t know, or she was under orders not to tell him.

The start of a flu virus Terra had contracted but hadn’t shown symptoms of yet was quickly destroyed, and she was given a clean bill of health.

Within this time, everyone had formed a group, or found a single friend so they wouldn’t feel alone. It was a natural human reaction to surviving the mental stress of confusion, chaos, loss, and fear. 

Terra sat with her new friend and family cross legged on the floor in front of the bay door. Will hadn’t moved much from that spot since they made the jump to FTL inside their home solar system - aside from the trip to the medbay.. He only got up once to use the single-occupant bathroom. 

She shivered. 

Will shifted a little to remove his winter coat and wrapped it around her shoulders. He mimicked what he’d been taught by his father on how to be a gentleman, and how he’d watched his father care for his mother. 

“Thanks,” she muttered. Her eyes were dry, but she had a headache from crying so much. 

He did, too, but said nothing. 

She tucked her hands into the warm jacket pockets. Her fingers brushed against a cardboard surface, and pulled out a deck of Uno cards. “What’s this?”

“Oh, I forgot about that,” he took the cards and opened them. And that’s when he realized the contents of his pockets was all that remained of his life as a regular kid from a small town public school. It took him a few moments to recover from this truth. “My dad gave this to me for my birthday last year. He taught me how to play. He also taught me how to throw a card.”

“Can you show me?” she sat on her knees. 

He opened the skinny box and slipped one card free from its place. It was a blue “1.” With a practiced motion, he gripped the card between his index and ring finger long ways, angled it slightly in front of his face, and flicked his wrist. 

The card spun through the air on a straight path like a shuriken and struck the thick metal door. It drifted harmlessly to the floor. 

“Cool,” She smiled. 

He paused at that. This was the first time he’d seen her smile without the static of fear behind her eyes. Of course they were both still terrified of what would happen to them, but in this moment, he saw another reason to keep going. Nothing else of Earth or his life remained, but this person who brought him back from the cold grip of losing his mind to fear was right here beside him, He could be strong for her, and protect her, and save that smile. He could be like Indiana Jones; protecting the thing he valued most.

“Wanna try?” He offered her a card -- a green ‘4.’ 

She took it tentatively. “I don’t know…”

“It’s easy. Here, lemme show you. Just hold it like this between your fingers. Focus on one point on the wall, pull back your wrist, and throw it.”

She flicked the card. It fluttered up, and pinwheeled to the floor. 

He handed her a blue ‘Reverse’ card. “Try again.”

She bit her lip in concentration on the point above his blue card and flicked her wrist. The card sailed through the air in an arch and hit the door. It fell directly over the blue card.

A giggle of delight left her. “Was that right?”

Will’s jaw slacked. He pushed up his glasses by the right side. “Uh...yeah. That was perfect. You’re really good at this. It took me a week to get that down.”

She simply shrugged. “I’m good at darts.”

He smirked. “Ok. Then I challenge you. Whoever hits the same spot the most wins.”

“Ok.” She accepted half of the deck. 

Uno cards shot across the space and collided with the door like colored frisbees. The two poked each other to try to throw one another off, or made faces to distract them. A rainbow pile quickly built. Terra landed three quarters of her cards. Will only landed half. 

“I win!” Terra cheered. 

“I let you win,” he jabbed.

“No you didn’t.”

“Yeah, I did.”

“Sore loser.”

“Am not!”

“Wanna go again?” She grinned.

“It’s on like Donkey Kong.” He hurried over to pick up the cards and handed her half the deck. 

Cards flew once more. A few of the other kids even started cheering on their favorite. It was something positive to focus on, and they desperately needed that small psychological sanctuary. 

Once more, Terra’s cards hit their mark twice as frequently as his. 

Their audience responded with cheers for Terra, ‘get her next time’ to Will, and ‘you suck, nerd,’ along with ‘she schooled you, dude,’ and ‘I wanna play!’ 

Will huffed as he sat down with the cards in hand and offered her the blue ‘Reverse’ card. “Best two out of three?”

She just giggled.

“What? I don’t suck that much.”

“No,” she smiled. “You were laughing. I like it more when you’re happy than when you’re scared.” To her, that sound meant more than simple joy at a game. She’d protected the part of him drowned out by the horrors of the past few hours. This boy had saved her sanity. She’d lost everything, as they all did, but now she had Will, and he’d given her a reason to fight: a family. She always wanted to make sure he smiled and laughed. No matter what happened from now on, she wouldn’t leave him. 

He shrugged. “I guess. You...you, too.”

Her smile turned mischievous as she held out her palm for her half of the deck. “But you’re gonna cry when I beat you again.”

“I should get you a bowl, ‘cause you’re gonna eat those words,” He held out the cards to her, but as she reached out to take them, the wide door sealing them off from the rest of the ship split open. 

An athletic man exuding confidence through his navy and black uniform addressed the group with his hands clasped at the nape of his back. His pistol-like weapon secured in a black thigh holster. “Everyone, if I could have your attention, please.”

 All conversations stopped, and everyone turned to the three armed men and two officers that strode in. Two sentry guards remained just outside the door. Any mirth the children managed to find vanished. 

Will and Terra stood as the adults took up a central position in the converted cargo bay. 

“Thank you. I am Commander Antarius Flin. This is Lieutenant Cree. This ship is the Regent vessel, Morning Star. I realize you’ve just suffered through an experience no living being should ever have to face, and I respect that. You’re being incredibly brave in the face of this situation, and that is a credit to yourselves and your people.”

The dark-haired boy - Derek - spoke up. “Who are you people? What are we doing here?”

His friend, the shaggy blond haired kid, spoke up, pushing up his glasses. “The Captain explained it, but it’s still confusing.”

“She didn’t explain shit,” the angry Chinese kid from before barked. He received a chorus of ‘yeah’ from those around him. The little girl, also of Asian decent, held onto his hand. He’d realized her translator hadn’t been calibrated when they brought her in, and she was screaming in Japanese. He spoke three languages before the translator nanites were injected into his body, --Japanese, Mandarine, and English. He helped her overcome her fear. “Our planet was baked in nukes, and all she said was ‘I’m sorry.’ Fuck that. I want a real answer.”

“Li,” Anahita pushed long strands of her dark hair out of her face and stood, facing the angry kid. “Calm down.”

“Don’t tell me to calm down, Ana. We were abducted by aliens! Doesn’t this concern anyone?!”

A kid with a round face raised his hand slightly. “I’m a little concerned.”

“Who are you?” Someone called out.

“I want to go home!” One of the six year olds demanded. “I want my mommy!”

“Why can’t we go back?!” A teenage girl shouted out.

“Hold on. Just everyone hold on. Let’s at least hear him out. We’re still alive, aren’t we? We need to stay that way, and for that, we need to learn about our situation.”

“They’re pointing guns at us!” Li argued. “That does the opposite of making me relax!”

“Of course they are!” she shot back. “You attacked one of them after you were brought on board! We just lost everything! You’d have a gun pointed at us, too.” She turned her voice to a pleading tone, but with persuasion. “My father used to say that nothing is more dangerous than a man with nothing left to lose, so in their eyes, we’re dangerous. Please, Li... I’m as heartbroken and angry as you are, but we need to try to stay calm. For everyone.” Her eyes drifted to the seven-year-old clinging to his arm. “For Keiko.”

He grumbled, but she was right. Something in her eyes pushed its will through to him. 

“A natural leader,” Flin regarded Anahita coolly. “Wise for your years, and brave. I can see why you were on the Xox’ list.”

“Yeah, about that... Who are the Xox?” Will spoke up. “Why are they after us?.”

“These are all very good questions, and you will have answers. There will be a ceremony to formally honor your families and your planet in ten minutes. Everything will be explained then. We will escort anyone who wants to attend to the observation deck. No one’s forcing you. We’ll let anyone who stays view it from here, but it’s all we can offer you at this point.”

A few grumbles and murmurs washed over the crowd. 

Commander Flin stood patiently and waited. 

Anahita, her new friend, Kathryn, Li, and Keiko stepped forward, as did the two boys, Derek and Nick, and Will and Terra. A few other kids numbering about thirty in total agreed to go. The rest wanted answers, but couldn’t bring themselves to take that step just yet. 

Commander Flin nodded. “Very well. Lieutenant?”

“Aye sir,” The younger man gestured toward the door. “Follow me.” He lead the group down the hall that curved around and split in a T-intersection to cross into different areas. The other three armed crew members staggered themselves within the cluster of kids. 

They passed by a few doors with wall panels displaying words in a language Will couldn’t read. The nanites translated for them, but did nothing for optical information. He wondered if there was tech to compensate for that, too. 

The stifled sounds of their footfalls against the thick metal floor made the corridor feel enclosed despite the double-wide girth of the light grey walkway. 

Will and Terra were at the head with Anahita, Li, and Keiko. They kept ahold of each other’s hands the whole walk. Fifteen of them squeezed into an elevator tucked away down a stretched out alcove in the middle of the hall --a freight elevator, or so it appeared. A smaller elevator in an alcove across the hall seemed to be for personnel only. 

They squeezed in with the others. Will squinted at the bright lights inlaid at the top making the round tube too bright. 

The trip to the observation deck lasted only a few seconds. When the doors slid back, they revealed another corridor the same height and breadth as the ones in the bowels of the ship, but the design was taken up a notch. 

The walls were a light gray - almost white - in hue with a blue stripe halfway up each wall. Long, thin lights were wedged into the upper edges providing constant luminescence, and the doors were no longer double wide. They were a standard size that anyone could find on Earth. The floors had a soft layer of flat grey fabric that seemed like carpet with a tiny bit of plush -- enough to absorb their footfalls. The ship appeared more like people lived here rather than worked here. Had this not been an alien vessel, Will would have sworn he’d just walked onto the set of a science fiction show. 

That had him wondering how much of what he saw on t.v. was based on actual experiences from people recounting their lives as fiction for entertainment.

The Masakan Federation was clearly an advanced civilization. 

Lieutenant Cree lead his entourage down the hall, around a corner, and through the first double wide door any of them had seen on this deck. 

What greeted them was an open room stretching out longways with a single step up by the windows. Multiple seats adorned the middle with a couple of tables. The raised area at the back created a half moon shape around the center. A wide panoramic window spanned the entire length of the room, offering an unhindered view of the nebula and the far distant galaxy. 

Most of the kids gasped at the breathtaking sight. 

Will’s jaw dropped. He stepped to the front of the crowd and gazed with wide eyes. 

Two planets smaller than Earth drifted far to the left and right. The green world to the left had two moons - one of them broken in half-, while the other planet made of mostly water and islands wore the belt of a sapphire blue ring and pulled along one larger satellite moon than the others. 

What Will couldn’t see above their ship was a third double-mooned world with a red hue. The three sister planets formed a slow cosmic dance. Eventually, the worlds would collide, but that would take millions of years. As for now, there was an immense amount of space between them. 

The other nineteen Regent ships drifted in sight within the vast open space at the center of the planetary triad.

The captain stood in front of the majestic view at parade rest and faced the children. “Please, come in,” she gestured to the few seats. 

All fifteen entered the room and the door closed behind them. Her short dark blond hair was neatly kept, and her sharp angular face accented her purple eyes. Despite her chiseled features, she didn’t come off as cruel. She gave off an air of superiority, like she could quick-draw that laser pistol strapped to her thigh and shoot anyone between the eyes with lightning reflexes. This was a woman who didn’t need to prove herself. 

“Is that the Andromeda galaxy?” Will asked before he could sensor his awe. 

“No.That’s our closest neighbor, the Aphyrius galaxy. This system is named after it because of this view. It’s about thirty thousand light years across.”

“Have you ever been there?”

A light chuckle left her. “It’s not that close.”

“How far away is it?”

“It’s about seventy thousand light years.”

“Cool.”

“Hm,” she nodded and moved to leave when he caught her with his voice.

“About the translator… um...how does it work? You’re not from Earth. How do I know what you’re saying?”

Since more of the young Terrans were still arriving, she had time to grant him an answer. “It’s programmed with a singular function to decipher language based on various linguistic syntax, sentence structures, and rules. It needs to be calibrated to your language to learn these rules and your voice. Once it has a base, it creates a network that accesses the area of your mind that understands language, and,” she thought of how to put this so a child would understand, “downloads your native speech. Every word you've heard is stored in your mind whether you can recall it or not, so the nanites ‘talk’ to each other in order to learn, adapt, build sentence structure and meaning, and translate almost any words you hear into ones you understand. Some species only communicate through sounds like chirps, or squeaks, or growls, so those are pre-programmed into your translator.”

“Wow. Are there aliens out there that it can’t translate for?”

“Oh yes. I assume hundreds, if not thousands.”

“How many nanites do I have?”

“The network we gave you is comprised of about five million.”

He couldn’t fathom that there were that many in his brain, even though he knew they were the size of individual cells.

“It is the most advanced version we have. Together, they contain multiple terabytes of memory,” she noticed his disbelief. “Don’t worry. It’s basic technology. If any of them malfunction and repairs can’t be made, they’re cut off from the network and flushed out of your body. You’re never aware of a thing.”

“That’s so cool.” 

She smiled down at him. “You’re very inquisitive, aren’t you.”

He shrugged. He had more questions about the ship and the tech he’s seen so far, but he was so torn about how to feel that he didn’t want to say anything more. 

Moments later, the rest of their group arrived. She welcomed them. “Please relax. You’re safe here.”

“Are we?” Li eyed the guards posted at the door.

“Yes,” Captain Linell stated in full confidence. “It is our duty to ensure no harm comes to you. You have my word, Li Chen.”

He choked on his words. “How do you know my name?”

“I made it a point to memorize your names, and your numerical designations.” Her eyes shifted to each person as she repeated a few. “Derek McLaughlin - 223. Nick Alden- 225. Anahita Navari - 201. Keiko Natsuhara - 248. Kathryn Everette - 204. William Kade - 246. Emma Kitridge - 212--”

“Terra,” she interrupted.

The captain tilted her head slightly down to the little girl up front wearing a coat too big for her, and gripping the hand of a boy four-feet-three-inches tall - an inch taller than her. “I’m sorry?”

“It’s Terra, now. I changed it,” she lifted her chin to look up at the captain.

She understood. This child found a way to hold her lost home forever. It was admirable, and to her, showed heart and courage. “I see. Very well, then, Terra,” she accepted the change. “I am Captain Tevara Linell of the Regent vessel, Morning Star. Allow me to formally welcome you to my ship.” 

“Welcome us?” Derek, the boy with short dark hair and blue eyes clenched his fists, his voice quivering. “You abducted us!”

Keiko pushed bravery into her small, trembling voice, “if you’re aliens, why do you look like us?”

“My people are the Masaki. We have subtle differences to Terrans, but we and two other similar species are considered Human, like you: The others are the Mik, and the Kes.”

“What’s the difference?” a twelve year old kid piped up out of curiosity. “Are you super strong? Can you fly? Do you have laser vision? Can you freeze stuff?”

She smiled slightly. “No. It’s more internal. Purple eyes are not a Terran trait, but they’re as common to us as brown is to you. Aside from that, the only difference can be seen in a genetic scan. We also live about fifty years longer than you do. The other two human races have differences as well. The Mik are taller and stronger, and the Kes have mostly green eyes, are more lanky, and have incredible intuition.”

“How old are you?” someone blatantly asked.

“Never ask a woman her age.”

“My grandma says that,” Derek muttered to Nick next to him. He then frowned sadly. “Said.”

A girl around his age, Kathryn, rubbed his shoulder in comfort. She’d been raised by her grandparents, too. 

“It’s a cool ship,” Nick mumbled. Those next to him just glared at him. How could he think anything was cool at a time like this? “What?” He blinked big blue eyes behind his round glasses. “You guys are gonna stand there and tell me it’s not?”

“You’re a moron, Frodo,” Li growled. 

Nick scowled at him. “Don’t call me that.”

“Leave him alone, Li,” Derek defended.

“You too, Samwise. You and shortstack here don’t get it.”

“He’s coping, Li,” Captain Linell intervened. “As must you all.” These kids were all at the end of their threads, and anything could push them into an outburst. Li’s anger, specifically, was on the verge of explosion. He’d already lashed out once at one of the guards, leading them to have two armed officers guarding the cargo bay. She understood his anger. He had every right to be.

“I don’t wanna cope,” Kathryn, the slim girl with long red hair and green eyes said. “I wanna go home.”

“I’m afraid you can’t go home anymore, Kathryn.”

Kathryn didn’t know how to react. She’d always been able to go home after school, or from a friend’s house. Running freely with her favorite horse was her safe haven when things became too much.

“You said we couldn’t go back because it would endanger Earth,” Anahita spoke up. “Why would our being there make a difference?”

“Because you _will_ make a difference. And that’s the problem.” The captain turned to view the other ships. “Each of those ships harbors fifty children from Terra; one-thousand in total. I am happy to say we were able to rescue all of you.”

“But why?” Will asked. “We’re just kids. We haven’t done anything wrong.”

“It’s what you will become that the Xox fear. We don’t know the exact reasons, but we know that they foresaw the end of their two-thousand year dominance because of what you begin. They destabilized your civilization, and were willing to destroy your planet just to destroy you. And if they find even one of you on that planet...” She let that sink in. 

“...Boom?” Nick risked in a shaky voice.

“Boom,” she confirmed.

“H-how do you know?” Terra asked.

“Because we’ve seen it before.” 

“I guess,” Will began, thinking of Earth pockmarked with nuclear explosions, “they’re not afraid of us now.”

“On the contrary. We predict they are even more anxious, because you are no longer bound to a planet.” Captain Linell corrected. 

“Who are the Xox?” A fourteen year old boy spoke up from the back. “How did they even know about us?” 

“The Xox are an advanced race older than our own with a hierarchy consisting of a monarch, generals, and Seers who advise the ruling monarch. They are mostly a hive mind, but can operate independently. Their seers took months to narrow the source of their vision down to your planet, and pinpoint you.”

“Oh,” he bit his lip. 

Will didn’t know how to process the fact that an aggressive alien race wanted him dead for something he hadn’t done yet, or even had the slightest idea of what he could do to warrant that level of hatred. Once more, a chill passed through his core. 

Terra gave him back his jacket, which he put on. 

One of the crew dressed in a similar uniform, but with a single downward-facing chevron over three circles on the left upper arm approached the captain and spoke softly. 

She nodded, and her subordinate left. 

“The fleet is in position.”

During the Q&A, the other ships had formed a ring with their observation decks facing the center. 

The lights in the lounge dimmed, making the starlit nebula, the galaxy, and the planets brighter.

“Commander Flin,” Captain Linell spoke into her com, “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Aye, captain,” his voice responded for all to hear. “We’re synced with the fleet. Receiving the signal from the Polaris now.”

Captain Linell stepped aside. What replaced her was a hologram of a tall, slender woman in a long, sleeveless, white formal gown that hugged her body like it was part of her. Her long, thick, brown hair fell in a complicated braid down to her ankles covered by the dress, and wisps of stray fly-aways brushed in front of her bright purple eyes. 

The recording played on a screen in the cargo bay as well.

She folded her hands gracefully at her front. “Children of Terra,” her voice held a mezzo musical purity, leading anyone who heard her to instantly cease their current activity and listen. Those three words along with her visage were enough to silence everyone in the room, ”or as you call it, Earth. I am Chancellor Urza, leader of Masaka, and head of the Regents of the Masakan Federation. Allow me to offer my most sincere and humble condolences for your loss. No living being deserves to suffer this experience, and I am heartbroken that you children must carry the burden of losing your native home.

“I’m sure you’ve been given a brief explanation of why you’re here. I will elaborate and hopefully ease your questions.

“You are here for one highly complicated reason,” she affixed them - or rather, the recording device - in her gaze. “The Xox high command saw something in every one of you that threatened them, and they want you dead. If even one of you returns to Terra, the Xox won’t hesitate to destroy it. To take you back would be to condemn your entire race to genocide. We could not allow that.”

“The Xox used the paranoia generated by your calendar’s turn to a new century to bring fears of armageddon to fruition. Their plan was to push Terrans to the brink of extinction. With your planet reeling from devastation, the Xox would descend upon your world, and if any of you managed to survive, they would obliterate your planet to ensure you never start the ripple that alters the balance of power in the galaxy.

“I regret that we didn’t find out about your existence until it was too late to stop the Xox’ plan. In order to save you and what will remain of Terra, we had no choice but to take you away from your homes, your families, and your loved ones. We did not come to this decision lightly. But, to protect the promise of hope against the Xox Dominion rule, and to save both you, and the fourth Human species in the galaxy,...it was our only choice.”

Her voice remained somber. 

“Sadly, yours is not the first planet to succumb to this fate.”

A hologram of a green and water world appeared with two orbiting moons. 

“Four hundred years ago, a world called Ephypso saw its end at the hands of the Xox. Its survivors scattered across the galaxy like ashes in the wind. We learned decades later that they had discovered a new form of energy,” she gracefully brought up her right hand and opened her palm. The planet disappeared, and a hologram of a metal sphere exuding brilliant blue light formed over her long fingers. “It could be used for anything - from ship propulsion, to city-wide power grids, to weaponry, and simple batteries. And...it was stable. We were able to reverse engineer it and integrate it into our own technology, starting a new era for our people. Ephypsan cores are now used in the FTL and jump drives of almost every ship in the known galaxy.” She closed her hand and the image evaporated into a cloud of photonic sparkles.

“However, Ephypso is now an asteroid field. That’s where we learned that it wasn’t the discovery of Ephypsan particles themselves the Xox were aiming to destroy. It was the people who created the technology to harness it, and those that would grow because of those people. Their influence could change the galaxy on a far greater scale than their technology. Which is why the Xox haven’t attacked a civilization since, despite the widespread usage of this power source. Until now.”

Urza continued. “They have officially begun a galactic-wide hunt for you. As long as you’re still alive, you’re a threat to them.”

She paused long enough to exhale and segue into the meat of her message. “Which is why our ships will scatter you to various points in the known galaxy.”

A surge of confusion erupted from the group. 

The same reaction echoed among the children on all twenty ships. 

“Together, you’re a target and easier to find. I know some of you may have already formed bonds due to your shared trauma, and that is to be expected. We’ve anticipated that, so we will do the best we can to keep those who want to remain together as such. But there is no guarantee. For the safety of yourself, all Terrans remaining alive on your planet, and the promise of hope in the galaxy,... you must be separated.”

Will felt Terra’s grip on his hand tighten. He adjusted his so their fingers locked. A new fear washed through him. He could lose her.

Keiko wrapped her arms around Li’s waist and buried her face in his shirt.

Nick and Derek glanced to each other in dread.

Anahita looked around her as everyone suddenly feared they would lose more than just Earth. She put her arm around Kathryn’s shoulders for comfort. Her eyes and Li’s locked for a moment. 

“We’ve assembled a group of volunteers willing to bring you into their homes. They will care for you as they would their own children. They are Regent officers, scientists, inventors, artists, politicians, and teachers. We aimed to keep all of the volunteers of Human origin, but that wasn’t possible. Some of you will be placed with humanoid aliens. Don’t be afraid, though. Each person has been vetted to the extreme, and all live on Federation worlds. These individuals have my utmost confidence. Those who will take you in understand you will need time to grieve.

“It will be no simple task hiding you from the Xox. Any scanners updated with Terran biological information will detect the Terran origin marker within your genetic structure. If that occurs, you will automatically obtain immunity. 

“But there are those who’s fear for their own lives will override this law, and they will ignore it. For this reason alone, you must exercise extreme caution with whom you choose to share your status with. 

“Every person who agreed to give you sanctuary is well aware of the risks they’re inviting. They know that saving your lives saves the lives and future of an entire species, and offers the galaxy a hope it desperately needs.

“From this point forward, you and any of the remaining people of Terra, are under the protection of the Masakan Federation. We have yet to know the extent of the destruction at this time, though if our scientists are correct, that effect is global. If there is anything left to salvage, we will do what we can to help heal your civilization. Until then, I’m afraid Terra is considered lost.”

A few sniffles escaped in the heavy, solemn atmosphere.

Urza placed he right hand delicately over her heart. “May your loved ones find peace, and may your hearts retain hope. Those who are lost will live on forever within you, within your memories, and your breath. Your threads are tied through the stars, and so the love you feel has no boundaries. Keep them with you. Always.”

Streaks of golden light burst from each ship in the circle. They converged in the center in flares of energy that increased in brilliance and size, growing stronger and more dense until its core became a solid sphere of plasma. Aureate tendrils of power crawled across its surface, mixing with glacial blue energy that began rotating slowly. 

The streams ended. 

A beautiful golden orb with blue ripples within it three times the size of the largest Regent vessel glimmered in the backdrop of the nebula and the distant galaxy. 

“An Aurora Star,” the hologram of Urza said softly. “An orb of pure Ephypsan particles, created for you in memoriam of Terra...of Earth. It will burn for a thousand years. Let all who witness this star remember you, and the sake for which it was created.”

They watched it spin on a lazy axis, adopting its new place in the cosmos. 

This was meant to be a true good-bye, and that meaning wasn’t lost on the children in the cargo bays and observation lounges on every ship. 

 “The paths you were initially traveling have irreparably changed forever. However, your potential has not, and those paths remain.”

Urza’s holographic figure smiled caringly. “You are the One Thousand. Nothing can take that from you. Stay true to your heart. Stay kind, and never lose hope. Thrive, and may the stars guide you.”

The hologram fizzled out, leaving the room bathed in the new small star’s golden-blue hue. 

The reality that they truly could never return home, and that they faced an unknown future among aliens in a galaxy too vast for them to comprehend, reached a few of the kids. Some dropped to their knees and sobbed. Others stared in shock. All hope of seeing their families, or going back to their lives again had evaporated. And now they would be scattered like leaves on the wind to alien worlds. The heaviness of the ambient atmosphere compressed in on them. 

Captain Linell retook her position at the front. “Stay here as long as you like. When you’re ready, all officers on this ship have instructions to escort you back to the cargo bay.” With that, she stepped aside to speak softly with the lieutenants present. One of them left at her instruction. 

“We’re cargo,” Nick mumbled sadly. 

“No,” Derek shook his head at his new friend, his new brother, then looked back to the star. “We’re refugees.”

Will stepped up to the window, the only person yet to do so, and stared out at the abyss of space beyond his reflection. A single layer of glass, or whatever material this was made from, protected him from the freezing vacuum.

There it was. A tiny newborn star, created as a memorial, a gravestone for Earth. “Captain?” his voice remained soft.

She walked up to the young boy and glanced down. “Yes?”

His sights remained fixed on the orb of pure Ephypsan energy. “How far are we from Earth?” 

“Ten light years,” she matched his tone. 

“That means...it’ll take ten years for Earth to see this. Why here? Why not in our solar system?”

“We backtracked through jump points as far as we could.”

“Backtracked? How far did we go?”

“Eighty light years.”

“Why?”

“Because we wanted you to have this place,” she turned her attention to the viewport. “Those worlds are inhabited by pre-FTL species. Like yours once was, they are completely ignored by the Xox.” 

“Won’t the people on those planets see this?”

“Yes. It’ll be a small new point of light for their astronomers to study for the next millennia. This is for you more than your planet. This is your Aurora Star. It belongs to all of you.”

“My Aurora Star,” he whispered. He’d never thought he’d have a star, but if the destruction of his home planet was what it took to obtain one, he didn’t want it. 

“F-from the sun,” Will swallowed hard, fighting back tears in the only way he knew - talk until something he said made sense, “it-it takes light eight minutes and nineteen seconds to reach us. The edge of our solar system is one-point-eighty-seven light years from the sun. Now we’re…”

“A lot farther than that,” she rested her hand on his slim shoulder and squeezed. She knew he was trying to hold back, but in her experience, that was toxic. He needed to take this moment to grieve for his life and planet. She offered him a ray of optimism. “It’s a big galaxy out there, William. It’s a hundred-and-five-thousand light years across. We’ve only explored half of it. Maybe someday you’ll go farther than we have.” She smiled, then left him alone to his thoughts. 

His jaw tightened. He couldn’t speak anymore, barely able to hold it together. Part of him wanted to know what lay out there beyond the stars. That’s what the Nova Star project at NASA promised. The other part of him, the part screaming for his family, wanted to collapse.

Terra stepped up to his left. She folded her arms as a way to shield herself. “First mom and dad, now this. I don’t want to leave you, Will.”

 “You’re not gonna,” he choked a sob down through the words. He was terrified of the same thing. “We’ll look out for each other. We’ll stay together forever.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah. I promise.”

She shook her head and held up her right hand. “Pinky swear.” She couldn’t risk losing anything else, or anyone. This was far too important for a verbal confirmation.

He hooked his pinky finger around hers. “I swear.” This was a sacred promise that could never be broken. 

Behind them, Derek and Nick, Anahita and Kathryn, and Li and Keiko watched the memorial star. Will absorbed the scene, sealing every sense into his memory. 

“Look,” Kathryn pointed at the window.

One by one, the other ships steadily broke the ring. They angled in different directions in four dimensions, and one by one, vanished into FTL, taking their precious cargo to different points in the known galaxy. He had never met anyone on those ships, but he felt the pain of losing them.

He wondered if he would ever run into any of them again, or if this single instance in time was the only moment the One Thousand would ever share together. 

The Morning Star’s engines fired up, and Will watched the Aurora Star, the planets, the distant Aphyrius galaxy, and the serene quiet of space pull away into starlines taking them deeper into their new fate.

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #3 Anahita Navari  
> Anahita speaks Garhwali - a hilly dialect originating from Hindi. She was on her school's debate team, and had plans to compete in Delhi for a scholarship to the United States. She's fluent in English, because that is the language of business and commerce. She is the third of five children. Her favorite color is purple, and her favorite holiday is the Festival of Color. She had three dogs who were all puppies from the same litter - Parvi, Poola, and Pakah.  
> Now she can't say that the middle child didn't get attention.


	4. An Alien Future

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Terra meet some non-human crew members on the Morning Star, and the ship is diverted back to Masaka, the homeworld of the oldest human species - the Masakans - and home of the Masakan Federation and the Regents.

 

 

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 4**

 

_That night…_

The children were confined to the cargo bay, but if they asked, they could be escorted to the observation deck. Many of them couldn’t sleep, as they were plagued with nightmares.The Regents assigned a small number of their crew to care for them, providing an ear, food, water, or forms of entertainment to keep their minds occupied. Eventually, sleep won out for most of them, and they curled up on their cots or against one another. 

Will laid on his cot, number 246, and stared at the ceiling. It looked to be made of panels that could be removed like puzzle pieces. A set of stairs were pulled up at the side so the new occupants of the cargo bay couldn’t climb up to the catwalk.

They’d given him a clean set of clothes to wear, but he left them folded up on the floor. It was a small rebellious act against being forcefully matriculated into ‘space society,’ or whatever they wanted to call it. A few of the kids taken while they’d been asleep in their homes took the new clothes in order to feel less exposed, and warm. They were soft, but the fabric didn’t smell right. 

He never thought he’d miss the smell of detergent so much. 

What were they going to do now? Where were they going? He wondered which family had agreed to take him in, and if he would like them, or ever get used to being forced to call an alien world and an alien foster family ‘home.’ Would any of the kids here be in the same city, or on the same planet? 

Everytime he closed his eyes, he saw the faces of his parents paralyzed in the snow watching an alien abduct their son. If they survived the apocalypse, they’d be worried about him. And he had no way to tell them he was alright. 

If they survived…

Heat welled up in his chest again, and he bit his lip against it. So far, he’d managed to keep from breaking down completely. He had to be strong for himself, and for Terra. 

He glanced to her across the way toward the bay door on her own cot, curled up beneath a blanket. If she’d managed to fall asleep, she’d accomplished something that cruelly eluded him. 

His stomach grumbled lightly. He sighed and rolled over. They’d given him food, but all he did was pick at it. Eating was difficult, plus it didn’t taste like anything he was accustomed to. 

The Regents were human, and everything on this ship was designed for humanoid anatomy in mind, but all of it was off enough to feel completely foreign. 

Someone pushed gently on his shoulder.

“Will?” At some point, Terra had gotten up and made her way over. “Are you awake?”

“Yeah,” he mumbled and sat up, and put on his glasses. “I can’t sleep.”

“Me, either.” She sat on the bed. She’d taken her hair out of its ponytail so the straight light brown locks fell over her shoulders. He noticed she hadn’t changed into the new clothes either. “You didn’t eat.” 

“I’m not hungry.” His stomach promptly betrayed his lie. He grimaced. He was starving, but felt ill at the same time. “I can’t eat it. It’s weird. It doesn’t taste right.” 

“Yeah. But I’m hungry, too. Come with me?”

“And go where? A Cracker Barrel?”

Her lips pursed in a pout.

“Sorry,” he apologized. He’d give anything for their homemade soup right now.

“I guess they won’t let us out, though,” She kicked her feet. 

Her melancholy made him steele his courage. “We won’t know unless we try.” He hopped off the bed. “Come on.” 

Terra joined him and took his hand. They approached the security guard stationed at the door and looked up into the face of the 6’ tall man. 

“Um...hey,” Will tried. “We,...do you...is there a cafeteria or something?”

“Couldn’t eat?” The guard simply guessed.

He nodded. 

“It’s gross,” Terra murmured.

“Hm,” the guard chuckled. “Well, you’re not the first. Those pre-packaged meals they gave you guys taste like sand.” He glanced over to the console. “Hey, Jen. I’m taking Two-Forty-Six and Two-Twelve to Delleen’s.”

Lieutenant Nashae standing at the console nodded. “Go ahead,” she took in the dimly lit room, and her voice husked in empathy. “These poor kids are too worn out to try anything.”

“Copy that.” He tilted his head down to the two short children. He noticed the boy kept himself slightly in front of the girl and kept a tight hold on her hand. “Ok, you two, follow me. And stay close.”

They nodded and did as they were told. 

As they walked down the hall toward the elevators, Will noticed there were scarce few crew members around. “Where is everyone?”

“It’s the night shift. And we’ve told all non-humans to avoid you if possible,” the officer glanced back. 

“Why? There are other aliens here?” Will’s curiosity began to spark.

“A few humanoid ones. We know Terrans aren’t space-faring yet, so we didn’t want them to scare you.”

“I’m not scared,” Terra feigned bravery and clung to Will’s arm. 

“Me, either.”

He smirked, knowing it was a complete lie from both of them. “I’d say you bunch are the bravest beings in the galaxy with what you’re going through.” 

The elevator let them off on a deck identical to the design of the observation deck with screens next to the doors displaying the room’s designation in the Masakan written language. 

The officer tapped on the control of a single door, and it slid open. He lead the two children through. 

It was a rounded room with a back door leading to a kitchen and bar off to the left side. Tables and chairs spread out in the center, and two wide windows separated by an angled support beam with two sets of cushioned seats with a table in front of each. Starlines streaked by the windows.

Terra stopped in her tracks and squeaked lightly in fear behind him. She grabbed his jacket. They weren’t alone here.

Two humanoid beings with blue skin sat chatting over plates of piled, noodle-like food with a Masakan male at one of the inner tables. The aliens’ gold irises instantly settled on the two newcomers. 

The other three aliens - one woman with tan skin and dark brown spots angling in on her cheekbones, and with pulled-back dark hair, a normal looking human female with blond hair and four small light brown spots running down the center of her forehead, and a male with short brown hair and thick brow bones curving outward toward his ears with small spots adorning the edges - ceased their conversation. 

The bartender and cook setting out a plate of food on the counter top didn’t bat an eye. She adjusted her thick bun of white hair, and continued her work. She had air-brushed blue tint lines running along her cheekbones and down the sides of her face and neck into the collar of her outfit.

Will’s eyes widened. These were the aliens he’d expected had kidnapped him. Not other humans. He was curious, but at this point, too afraid to move much further into the room. 

“Delleen,” the officer called over. “Think you can find something for these kids?”

Her voice was smooth, calm, and easy on the ears. And yet that angelic tone held salt. “That makes ten to come up here so far. What did you guys feed them? Borca root?”

“Might as well have,” he retorted with a chuckle. 

Delleen sighed and pulled out two plates. “Set them up by the window. I’ll fix them something warm.” She headed back into the kitchen, and Will caught her grumbling, “They’re children, not cattle. Stupid, irresponsible--”

“You heard the woman,” the officer planted his hands on their back and ushered them in. 

One of the blue skinned aliens twisted his fork in the bed of noodles as he watched the kids hurry by. “Babysitting the preschoolers, Ehnik? Might as well have them running all over the ship if you keep letting ‘em out.”

HIs companion gave him a death glare. “They lost their planet, Pliq. Cut ‘em some slack.”

“You’re not afraid of them, are you?” the Masakan crewman needled. 

“Pha! Hardly. I’m not afraid of a bunch of brats.”

He poked his fork toward his peer. “I dunno. The Xox are.”

Pliq folded his arms. “The Xox can suck my big fat toe.”

The other blue skinned alien grinned. “Censoring yourself? That’s new.”

“They’re kids,” Pliq scooped up some noodles onto his fork. “And you’re an idiot.”

Will and Terra took a seat across from each other at one of the window tables.

“Don’t listen to them,” Ensign Ehnik consoled. “The O’alli can be a little abrupt.” 

 Moments later, the white-haired cook placed two plates in front of the children. “One of the younger ones earlier wanted something called a ‘Pop-Tart.’ I convinced them to eat pancakes instead. It appears these are universal.”

Will and Terra looked to each other, though neither moved. They were afraid it would contain poison, or alien food would make them sick. 

“I didn’t make these to be stared at,” she urged with a smooth strictness to her voice.

Hunger won out. They gave each other a nod, as if silently telling the other it was ok to eat, and tentatively took a bite. It was delicious and reminded both of home. They dug into the pancakes with new ferocity.

“Let me know when they’re ready to leave,” Ensign Ehnik said. He tilted his head to the others. “Make sure these guys don’t bother them.”

“No one makes trouble in my bar, Ensign. If they do, I’ll show them the door.” Her tone indicated the troublemakers’ would find themselves effectively thrown out on their asses no matter how strong they were. 

Knowing her, she didn’t need to prove herself for that statement to hold weight. 

Will’s eyes soaked in every detail about the aliens and the room. He was both frightened and fascinated. “What...what are they?”

“Morons, most of the time,” Ehnik joked. He gestured to the table of blue skinned aliens. “Those two are a race called O’alli.” He nodded next to the woman with the dark spots on her cheekbones. “She’s Enkai, the beautiful but sassy one with the forehead spots is a Felorian, and the guy next to her who can’t take a joke to save his life is a Taldig.”

“Those are weird names,” Terra blurted out. She clasped her hand over her mouth beneath wide, horrified green eyes a second later. “Sorry!” she whimpered.

Ehnik smirked. “They’re kind of weird people. It fits.”

He turned to leave when the starlines outside folded into the pinpoints of normal stars. “Huh?”

The others in the small galley were just as curious. 

The Masakan male tapped at the com node behind his ear. “Quinn to the bridge. Report. Why did we drop out of FTL?”

A clear feminine voice responded. It wasn’t the captain’s, but the senior officer in charge while Quinn was on lunch. “Emergency orders from Chancellor Urza, Lieutenant. We’re being rerouted.”

“Where?”

“Masaka.”

He frowned and stood. Something was wrong here, and it didn’t sit right with him at all. The other officers thought it was off, too. They shouldn’t be heading back home for another five or six months. “Wake the captain. I’ll be there in two minutes.”

“Yessir.”

Without another word, the Lieutenant left the bar. Ensign Ehnik returned to the cargo bay.

The two kids watched him and three others leave. At least they now knew where they were going. A small part of Will settled with disappointment that FTL wasn’t called ‘hyperspace’ or ‘warp,’ even though that’s what the Ephypsan drives did: warp space to allow them to travel faster than light. 

“Is everything all right?” Will asked.

Delleen walked up to their table. “I’m sure it’s fine.”

Knowing the name of their destination still didn’t ease his fears or sorrow. In fact, it made it worse. Who knew how far away Masaka was from Earth. It could be on the other side of the galaxy, hundreds of light years away. He set his fork down next to his half eaten fluffy pancake and slouched.

Terra had stopped eating as well. She’d thought the same thing. 

“You know, that’s an old recipe from where I came from. My favorite when I was a child always had sweet pears cooked into it. I had a feeling you’d like these.”

“What do you know about us?” Will snapped. He tilted his head up to look her in the eye, taking in her whole alien appearance. “Your planet wasn’t destroyed because of you, and you’re not stuck on an alien ship with an alien race hunting you just because you’re alive.”

 She remained calm in the face of his storm. “You’d be surprised just how similar you and I actually are,” she stated softly. Her words held a vast amount of hidden history and knowledge that the two couldn’t begin to understand. 

It left them confused. 

“Eat up. There’s plenty more where those came from,” she tapped the table to indicate the food still on their plates, offered them both a soft smile and went back to tending her kitchen. She’d cook up a stack of pancakes, because these kids would not be the last she’d see tonight.

 If they were traveling all the way back to Masaka, that meant multiple jump points, and five days of total travel. This would give her a chance to make full meals for the kids. Cooking for the crew whenever they’d come here instead of the standard galley on deck five was normal. Making these lost children decent meals gave her a way to help them, and give them something of substance to bring them comfort. She would speak to the captain in the morning. Her race didn’t require as much sleep as Humans. 

However, detouring directly to Masaka worried her. These kids were supposed to be split up and dropped off on various worlds. The entire trip would have taken them six months to travel from sector to sector. These children should not be in the same place at the same time. Their separation was of the utmost importance to their safety. Something about this sudden change in plans didn’t feel right. And she’d learned long ago to listen to that instinct.

She watched the children for a while as they ate and shared very few words. They would often reach out to touch the other’s hand, and had a fork fight over the last piece of pancake. It made her chuckle. Not even a full day had passed, and the bond these two shared was already deeper than friendship or family. The thought that a soul connection that strong still existed among people as far away as the backwater world of Terra warmed her heart.  

The ship jumped back into FTL minutes later. 

Will and Terra finished their meals, and scarfed down seconds. Tired and full of pancakes, they were escorted back to the cargo bay, passing four more of their companions on the way. 

Almost everyone was asleep by the time they returned. Terra hopped up onto her cot, took off her pink shoes and laid down. She heard the rustle of fabric as Will sat on the floor. “Those were really good pancakes,” she whispered.

“Yeah,” he had taken his shoes off and left them on the floor next to him. He yawned. “That lady was weird, though.”

“Totally. She was nice. And I liked her skin. It was pretty,” she sat up and slid off her cot to join him, scooting up next to him. He didn’t move away. Both wanted the comfort and contact. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. “What do you think Masaka looks like?”

“I don’t know. Green, maybe? Lots of water, and forests, and cities with flying cars like Deloreans, and buildings so tall, King Kong can’t reach the top.”

“That sounds beautiful,” she whispered. “I wish my mom and dad could see it.”

“Yeah.” He just wanted to tell his parents that he was ok. “Mine, too.”

Sleep claimed her far faster than before. As long as she knew he was there, she felt safe. 

He stayed up to guard her from any nightmares. Her weight on his shoulder felt reassuring rather than hindering. He fished the blue Uno ‘Reverse’ card from the deck in his jacket pocket and held it up. If only he could use this to reverse the whole ship and send them back home. 

Eventually, he, too, lost the fight against sleep. He felt someone pull a blanket over them, but didn’t care to see who. He was too exhausted to care. As long as Terra was here, he felt safe. Whatever happened from now on, they’d get through it together. 

Both children shared a cot from that night on.

* * * *

tbc

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #4: Kathryn Madison Everette  
> Kathryn is 15. She has long red hair, green eyes, and is 5'5". She's Canadian - from Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia. She grew up around horses, and competed. She has excellent reflexes. The Regents had to shoot her and her horse with a bind to get her to stop running. The Regent who acquired her had to act fast and throw a portable sustaining field under her when she fell from the horse. It cushioned her fall so she remained uninjured. She was taken early that night around 7pm est.
> 
> She forms a connection with Anahita Navari.


	5. Masaka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Morning Star arrives at the planet Masaka, but something about this reroute to her homeworld doesn't sit right with Captain Linell.  
> Will lets go for the first time

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 5**

 

_Five days later…_

 

Within these days sailing through space, Will taught Derek and Nick how to play Uno. He and Terra held matches with them so much so that the four became friends. On the third day, the three finally convinced Will to change into the clothes the Regents gave them when his own began to smell. 

The strangest experience Will had was the sonic shower. It cleaned his body thoroughly, but the sensation only hammered home that this was an alien vessel, and he had no choice in being on it. He never thought he’d miss water so much in his life. 

Although it was only a five day journey, it felt like an eternity to all of them. 

The Morning Star dropped out of FTL over a green world mottled with sapphire blue water, and shimmering polar ice caps. Storms loomed in drifting white clouds swirling over the surface, brushed as though with an artist’s touch.

Will and Terra’s mouths gaped in awe, as did the other children who’d asked to watch their arrival from the lounge. They lined up at the vista window, and a few of them placed their hands against the glass, including Will. 

“Children,” Delleen began, “welcome to Masaka.”

The planet Masaka glowed in the star-speckled sky. Golden lines of light striated the surface leading in and out of cities of various sizes, and even spanned across the waters. Jutting up from the equator like an arrow lodged in a melon, was a thick orbital tether secured to a massive station. Ships of exotic, jagged, and smooth makes and models buzzed around the station. Larger space craft not suited for atmospheric maneuvering were docked, awaiting their next mission. Most of the star craft were of similar streamlined designs. Will assumed those were Masakan. 

The planet’s two moons drifted on a lazy orbit in a continuous chase. The largest of the two held a light blue tint and very little atmosphere, while the other resembled Earth’s solitary satellite. Both hosted lunar bases. The blue moon glittered from rings of civilization like polka dots. 

Sunlight began to drape slowly over the horizon, bringing the night-side they were headed toward a new day. 

“It’s one of three inhabited worlds in this system. Pretty, isn’t it,” Delleen stepped up behind the two ten-year-olds. 

“It’s like a jewel,” Terra whispered. “It looks like Earth.”

“But it’s not,” Will’s jaw tightened. As beautiful as it was, as vast and advanced, it would never be home. 

“No, it isn’t,” Delleen agreed. “Nothing ever will be. A new adventure is often painful in the beginning.”

He didn’t know what to make of that, so he said nothing. The view of the approaching planet captured his amazement quickly enough to dash any reply anyway. 

The Morning star dove into the atmosphere at the sunlight broke between night and day. Their destination came into view as the ship slowed to atmospheric speeds and angled toward the dawn-lit towers of a glistening city at the edge of an ocean. 

“Wow,” Nick breathed in awe. The others mirrored his amazement.

“What is that?” Kathryn asked. 

“New Cerilia. The capital city,” Delleen said. None of the children noticed her hair-fine change in expression to one of worry. These children shouldn’t be together on the home planet of the second greatest galactic power so soon after their planet’s destruction. Maybe later, but not now. 

“You were right, Will,” Terra smiled slightly, completely unaware of Delleen’s concern. “It’s beautiful.” 

A futuristic metropolis spread before them like christmas lights on a black silk canvas. Lines of flying cars, colorful billboards, and connecting bridges between the tallest buildings wove between spires of smooth designs intermixed with older ones with rugged edges. These pierced upward like a bed of nails stretching out to the horizon. Although this was clearly a highly advanced capitol city among many, the world retained vast, undeveloped areas of verdant fields, snow-capped craggs, deserts, and forests. The Masakans seemed to understand the importance of sustaining a natural ecosystem. 

This was an extraterrestrial planet. A real, non-fiction, thriving and breathing civilization. Will thought this could have been Earth’s future had the Xox’ Y2K plan never happened. 

Being a larger vessel, the ship couldn’t impede on traffic. Instead, it sailed over the bustling city, and looped around to an area of interconnected buildings with open balconies just outside the city limits. The Morning Star landed gently on a broad tarmac in the midst of the complex. 

The crew ushered everyone back to the cargo bay. Once they had their things gathered - if anyone had originally been abducted with belongings in hand, or on their person - the bay door opened. 

Sunlight poured into the ship, making all fifty children squint or cover their eyes. Crisp, cool air rushed in to replace the artificial atmosphere. A ramp extended and lowered to the ground. 

Derek held his breath for as long as possible, afraid the alien atmosphere might poison him. 

A group of ten armed soldiers flanked two middle-aged people in neat, pressed attire. The woman gripped a silver datapad, while the man folded his hands behind his back.

Captain Linell held up her hand to keep everyone onboard the ship. She strode down the ramp with Commander Flin at her side. “Senator Degull. I didn’t expect to see you. ”

“Captain,” he flashed a serpent's smile, his voice as slick as his dark silver-streaked hair. “It’s a pleasure as always.”

“I wish I could say the same,” she responded with ice-cold loathing. 

He let her animosity slip over his shoulder with a politician’s grease. “How’s your son these days? Doing well in the academy, I hope?”

“He’s among the top in his class. He’ll be graduating next year. Why are you here, Senator?” she batted down his small talk like the words were an annoying fly buzzing in her ears. “With the urgency of the message, I expected to see Chancellor Urza.”

“The Chancellor sent me in her stead to collect your cargo.”

“Then I assume she sent you with more details before I hand these _children_ ,” she emphasized the word, “over to you.”

“Are you refusing to comply with the Chancellor’s direct orders, Captain.”

“On the contrary. It is well within my right to obtain full disclosure for a reroute home regarding these particular Terrans. Their importance and safety is paramount. Our mission is to ensure they remain safe and are allowed to grow up in peace.”

“And that hasn’t changed. They will grow up to be something remarkable, I can assure you. The galaxy will owe them everything,” he dropped his smile. The wind rustled his long blood-red coat of status as though taking his words with it, “Now. Are you going to escort these...children,’ he said with false delicacy, ‘into the complex, or should I have my men do it for you?”

Everything about this screamed ‘turn around and get the hell out of there,’ but she couldn’t disobey a direct order from Chancellor Urza. This walking pile of dumpster fire excrement, however, she’d be reprimanded for disobeying, but wouldn’t hold any regrets. 

“Commander,” She called back. “Escort the children inside.”

He felt as she did, and this showed in his forced dutiful reply. “Aye, Captain. All right, everyone. Let’s get you guys settled in.”

It took a little time to convince them - more-so the younger ones - to leave the ship, but they eventually moved down the ramp in small clusters. 

Li held Keiko’s hand as Anahita and Kathryn walked ahead of them.

Will and Terra locked their fingers together. They wanted to make sure they wouldn’t be separated. 

Derek and Nick formed their own duo. 

Their first steps onto the surface of a new world had them all looking around in every direction, soaking in the sunlight, the feel of the breeze, and cementing in the knowledge that this wasn’t home. 

Delleen stepped up beside the captain. “Tevara…”

Will and Terra passed by the two, though Will caught part of their conversation. 

“I know, Delleen. Something doesn’t sit right with me about this, either, but this isn’t the time to make reckless decisions.”

“We never choose our time.”

“No, we don’t,” she inhaled. “We do the best we can.”

Will moved too far away to hear anymore. What were they talking about? What about this seemed wrong other than the fact that all fifty of them were here at the same time? Surely the Xox couldn’t pinpoint this few on an entire world teaming with human and alien life. He didn’t even know how they’d found them on Earth in the first place.

The group thinned into a haphazard line as the troops from Degull’s side and the crew of the Morning Star ushered them across the expanse into the wide double doors of the complex. The doors ‘wooshed’ open to greet them with well-lit halls decorated with potted plants. 

The woman with the datapad hurried by. She pulled a slim com node from her green, two-toned skirt pocket and stuck it behind her ear. “Nera here… Yes, Senator Runell...I’ve made arrangements for tomorrow, exactly as planned. Should I expect you? ...Of course, sir. I understand. We’ll see you at Strafsend. I’ll inform Senator Degull.”

She quickly split off down a hallway and out of sight. 

Will’s head turned to look at the serious expressions of the Masaki around him, and that’s when the reality of his situation became painfully clear. In this case, He, Terra, Li, Keiko, Derek, Kathryn, Nick, Anahita, and the rest of the One Thousand scattered across the galaxy like leaves in a storm were…

“We’re aliens,” he mumbled.

Terra gave a questioning sound as they were lead to an elevator that took the kids up in groups of ten at a time. 

“We’re like the Ephypsans,” Derek elaborated. “We don’t have a home planet anymore. They call us Terrans, so we’re all the Terrans the galaxy gets to see right now. No matter where we go, we’ll always be the aliens.” 

“Oh,” She gripped Will’s hand more tightly as their group entered the elevator and the door closed. “I hope others come out here so we won’t be alone.”

The soldier glanced down to Terra.

When the doors opened, a woman in an a-line cut pale blue dress with a high collar waited for them. She held a transparent data pad in her right hand. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows at her left running down the length of the wide hall to a door at the other end. The previous group of children entered the room. 

The morning light illuminated her disarming smile. “Welcome to Masaka,” she kept her hands visible to help her guests feel as comfortable as possible. “You must be tired from your journey.”

“Nah, I’m good,” Nick said. “A little depressed maybe…”

Her smile remained. “Follow me, please.” 

With the officers herding them forward, they did as they were told. 

“Where are we going?” Will asked

“To where you’ll stay until the transport picks you up tomorrow morning.”

“Wait,” Kathryn held up her hand, “transport? What transport? We just got here.”

The woman stopped at the door split diagonally at an upward angle. “To your new home,” she answered simply, as though discussing the weather. 

“All of us?” Anahita asked. “Together? I thought we weren’t supposed to stay together.”

“Yes. All of you. In this case, that rule is not in effect. Special arrangements have been taken to accommodate all of you.” 

“Will any of the other ships be coming here, too?” Li spoke up. 

“I’m sorry, but no. It’s just you.” She keyed in a code at the panel adjacent to the doors and they slid open. The interior was bright, welcoming, and filled with comfort. She waited for the kids to enter. “I know Terra wasn’t terribly advanced, so I assume you’ve experienced a sonic shower onboard the Morning Star. Am I correct?”

Terra giggled. “It tickled.”

Will, however, shivered in dread of facing that experience again. “Don’t you guys just have normal showers with normal water and normal soap? Like normal people?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, we do,” she chuckled. “What is ‘normal’ is relative in your case, however. Although sonic showers are the most efficient way to be completely cleaned, many still prefer the old fashioned way. Now, I must greet the next group. You’re allowed to move freely through this part of the complex. We’ve provided various forms of entertainment to keep you occupied. Relax. You’re safe here. Someone will come get you when breakfast is ready.”

Li shuddered a breath. “They keep telling us we’re safe, but I just can’t believe them. All this is...too well planned. It’s too thought out. It’s like they were expecting a large group of people to chill here.”

“You think there’s something more to them bringing all of us here instead of going with their original plan,” Anahita frowned. “I have the same feeling.”

“Me, too,” Will hugged his bundled up regular clothes balled up in his arms. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“We’re kind of messed up, Skywalker,” Nick walked by him. “I don’t know what I feel anymore. Nothing is right, and it all feels like a dream. A really long, exhausting, real dream.”

“Delleen looked like she was going to throw up,” Terra hopped up on the back of a couch and dropped her backpack and regular clothes on the cushion. “I wonder what was bugging her so much.”

“You noticed that, too?” Will’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “I thought it was just me.”

She shook her head from side to side.

“Yo, look at this screen!” Derek launched himself over the other couch and up nose to nose with a flat screen embedded in the wall. A few of the other kids had figured out how to turn it on, and were channel surfing. “Holy shit, this thing has a thousand channels?!”

“Where’s the porn?” a teenager asked.

“Ew,” a cluster of little kids rang out in a chorus of disgust.

Anahita rolled her eyes.

“Yeah,” Li let go of Keiko’s hand so she could join the other kids her age. “It’s probably pay-per-view anyway.” He grimaced when the fourteen-year-old elbowed him hard in the ribs. 

“Boys are so gross.”

“Guys, look at this!” Kathryn hopped down into a sunken in area of the room. The opposite wall was lined with windows, giving the living area a homey, yet sterile feel. “It’s a holographic block game!” She jumped into the square along with two other kids, and a blue cube appeared over her head. 

“Get the blue ones,” a girl with a green cube above her instructed. “Marshal!” she yelled at the other kid, “I need orange. We need to fill in the line or we’re going to lose!”

“Three dimensional Tetris?” Will blinked. “Ok, that’s cool.”

“Oo!” Terra leaped off the couch. “I wanna play! I can Tetris anything. Mom bought a turkey for Thanksgiving last year, but it didn’t fit in the fridge, so I Tetris’d the fridge. Some eggs broke, but it all fit. Eggs count as a straight bar.”

In all honesty, it looked like a blast. All of the technology here fascinated him. He’d play later, though. Right now, a normal H2O shower called his name. 

He headed for what he assumed was a bathroom based on what he’d seen on the ship, and walked past the sonic shower door with his middle finger discretely over his jacket angled in the evil chamber’s direction. 

Figuring out the shower controls was fairly simple. There was a single rectangular window at head height, but he could only see the partially cloudy sky. The water soothed over him, and for the first time since this whole nightmare started, the tension in his muscles began to ease. Maybe he could give Masaka a chance. Maybe. It had blue skies, green hills, cities, and fresh air. The gravity was perfect, and the solar system had one sun, just like Earth’s.

If he closed his eyes, he could pretend he was home in the upstairs bathroom, his mom making dinner in the kitchen, and his dad schooling the newbie over the phone who took over his job at NASA. Will had begun to learn how to identify different codes over the military radio his dad gave him when he was five. He’d quickly become fascinated with tech, and showe’d exceptional ability at detecting minute changes in audio. He’d wanted to go to space to hear everything the galaxy offered, and to explore it. His father wanted him to stay on the ground and use his skills to fix Earth first. 

He wanted to run to his room, turn on the radio, and spend time scanning the frequencies to see if he could pick up anything new.

...Like the Masakan transmission. 

He’d picked it up throughout December. They must have been communicating with one of their own hiding out on Earth, possibly coordinating the kidnapping of the One Thousand. If only he could have deciphered their code, he could have warned everyone. He knew the concept was impossible - he was just a kid, and no one would believe him -, but the invading thought that he could have done something drove its nail into his mind anyway. Why wasn’t he smart enough? Why couldn't he figure it out and contact NASA directly?

Why couldn’t he save them?

He wanted his mom. He wanted to hear her voice, and feel her warmth, and see her smile. He wanted his dad. He wanted to be picked up and spun around and sit on his shoulders even though Will was already too big for that. He wanted his room, his crappy school, his computer, his N64 and the old t.v., his swing set in the backyard, and his warm bed with the space comforter.

He wanted to go home. 

But he couldn’t. He never could again. His planet would be blown up, and everyone would die if he did - if they weren’t already dead from the nuclear explosions.

Will’s small hands planted against the shower wall and he curled over as heat burned at the corners of his eyes. 

Here, alone with the rain-head shower cascading over him with its quick percussion needling against the tile, Will let go for the first time since his abduction, and openly wept. He slid to his knees and wrapped his arms around himself. Once he’d started crying, he couldn’t stop. The anger, frustration, sorrow, shock, denial, loss, and helplessness poured out of him like blood, and he was at the mercy of their blades.

Terra had run up to the sliding door and was about to knock and ask when he’d be done so they could play with the 3D games, but stopped. She heard the muted, muffled sobs filled with agony, and her little hand lowered. She’d known he was in just as much pain as the rest of them, but he’d remained strong even when she’d broken down and tear-stained his shirt more than once. 

She sat against the wall under the door controls and pulled her knees up. 

Kathryn and Nick ran in to yell at him to hurry up so they could all play, but stopped when they heard the sobbing as well. They bit back their demands. They all knew what he was going through, and in their tiny group, he was the last to fold. Kathryn gently pulled Nick away by his arm. 

Terra remained. Her friend could take all the time he needed to cry. She’d be here waiting. And if he needed to cry outside the shower, she’d be here for him, too. 

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #5: Nick Edward Alden is 12. He has shaggy blond hair, blue eyes, wears round-rimmed glasses, and is 5' even He's from Lockhaven, Pennsylvania. Li Chen gave him the nickname 'Frodo' for being short. He loves science fiction stories and wanted to write a famous novel. He had a cat named Chester, and was raised solely by his only surviving relative- his grandmother. She taught him how to sing, and he has a nice voice.
> 
> Derek Andrew McLaughlin is 14. He has dark brown hair, blue eyes, a penchant for dad jokes, and is 5'5". He's Irish, born and raised in Dublin, Ireland. He loves video games, and wanted to be a computer programmer. He's athletic and enjoyed running in the morning. He's very introverted and didn't have any friends. Li Chen gave him the nickname "Samwise." 
> 
> Nick and Derek connected since they were abducted by the Regents one number apart, and became brothers.


	6. Blindsided

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second rescue is attempted, only this time the enemy lies within the political structure of Masaka, and even closer to the children. Will and Terra find out just how close that betrayal gets.

((art of Will and Terra commissioned from mis-matching art - tumblr. - http://mis-matching.tumblr.com/ ))

**\----------------------------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 6**

 

_The next morning..._

 

The sun rose on the city of glistening, streamlined towers. Vehicles followed pre-programmed sky lines of traffic to their destinations as usual, taking their passengers to their jobs, or engagements, or out shopping - as usual, and the megalithic city faced a new dawn as a shining beacon of prosperity - as usual. 

Will had fallen asleep in his normal clothes on one of the wide half-moon couches in front of the slanted windows. The first beams of light crossed over his eyes, pulling him out of his nightmare of the gargantuan dark ship he’d witnessed before they left Earth’s solar system.

He sat up and rubbed away the sleep. Why did the sun have to be so glaringly bright?

He slipped on his glasses, shielded his eyes, and squinted through the space between his fingers. 

It was morning, but the eye-blazing light wasn’t from the sun. 

A vessel half the size of the Morning Star hovered like a stalking predator, shining a floodlight through the windows. 

The other kids were waking up to it as well, and groaning at the pain. 

Terra sat up, having fallen asleep head-to-head with her friend. She and many of the others had changed back into their regular clothing. 

Mumbles of confusion and panic bubbled up throughout the room. 

“What is that?” someone’s voice quivered.

“Don’t move,” Derek whispered. ”Its attack might be based on movement.”

“It’s a ship, not a t-rex, you moron,” Nick whispered back. 

“You never know.”

Regardless, as the two closest to the windows, fear and curiosity kept Will and Terra paralyzed in place. 

The light shifted suddenly to the ground multiple floors below them, and bolts of red particle beams rained down. 

Everyone screamed and scrambled away.

“The Xox?” Kathryn cried out in panic. “Did they find us?”

Without the blinding light, they got a clear look at the sleek design. “It’s a Regent ship,” Derek noted. 

“Why are they firing on their own people?” Nick exclaimed. “What the hell is going on here?”

They all felt helpless. They were locked in this section within the main living area exposed entirely to windows. Any of those shots could crash through and mow them all down.

Some of the kids banged on the door, demanding to be let out. 

The control panel burst into sparks, sending the kids scattering back in yelps of surprise. 

The doors ‘wooshed’ open, and a dozen soldiers in Regent blue and black uniforms barreled in. 

A loud, dissonant klaxon blared to life as the room’s interior lighting shifted to red.

Chaos exploded throughout the room. 

Children ran and hid behind couches, chairs, the table - anything they could find. A couple, including Li, held up their fists, ready to fight, and some were too shocked to move. 

The two Regents that had been assigned to guard the door were collapsed in a heap.

Captain Linell addressed the frightened kids with stern urgency. “Get your things as fast as you can and follow me.” 

No one moved. They were too stunned to see the captain of the Morning Star burst in guns-a-blazing, and still trying to process the situation. 

“I said move! We don’t have much time.”

“Captain?” Anahita could barely speak. “What’s going on?”

“Our divergence here wasn’t approved by the Chancellor. I’m getting you all out. Now, please. They need your leadership, Anahita.” 

Speechless, the young girl’s head bobbled up and down. She swallowed to clear her voice and put on her bravest tone even though she felt the tightness of fear in her chest. “Everyone! Get your stuff and go with the captain! Stay together!”

“I knew we weren’t supposed to fucking be here.” Li demanded. 

“Language,” Captain Linell scolded, then she and the officers went about helping the kids and rushing them out the door. 

Li blinked. “Did you just--” he turned to Anahita, “Did she just--”

“Yup, she did. Help me.” Anahita ordered. The two corralled the kids under age ten. 

Captain Linell picked up a six year old and handed him over to an officer. “We can get you all onto the Delphi. We’ve cleared a path, but it won’t hold.” She handed a gun from her hip over to Li, handle first. “It’s a Pulse pistol. Point this end at the other guy and shoot. It’s set to Bind.’ Don’t touch the settings.” She locked eyes with him to ensure he understood she was trusting him to guard the children with her on their escape. 

He nodded. “Right. Like target practice back home.”

She grinned. “Exactly.”  

Will and Terra were in the last cluster of kids to run out into the hall. “They’re trusting you with a gun?” Will sassed toward Li.

“Shut your pie hole, Skywalker,” Li snapped back. He pressed his palm against Will’s back to move the younger kid forward.

Will could feel his hand trembling. Li acted tough, but he was just as scared as the rest of them. 

Lieutenant Nashea tapped repeatedly on the elevator controls. “It’s down. Cree, did you get to the ground floor?” she spoke into her com.

His voice came back. “Affirmative. The Bind is starting to wear off. We’ll keep them busy as long as we can. How many are left?”

“Six,” Nashea replied. 

“That’s the only way out,” Terra panicked. “We’re trapped!”

“We’re not trapped,” Captain Linell rested her palm gently on the child’s small face. “There is always an alternative.” She ran back into the holding room. 

Everyone followed her. 

“What happened to an alternative to kidnapping us?” Li argued. 

“That _was_ the alternative,” she snapped back. 

He shut his mouth. 

“There’s no way out through here,” one of the kids explained. “We looked already. It’s air-tight.”

“This is a refurbished former consulate venue. All of the living quarters have an emergency escape route. Degull’s men couldn’t destroy the routes,” she pulled a bed away from the wall and tapped in seemingly random places, then placed her thumb against one point, “Nashae?”

The tall lieutenant adjusted the settings on her pulse pistol, took aim when her captain cleared the way, and fired one precise shot. 

A blue bolt of highly concentrated energy impacted the exact point Linell’s thumb had covered, creating a small hole. Two more shots revealed a door panel. Two more, and the wall disintegrated revealing  a single slim door.

“But they can hide it,” the captain tapped the door panel. The building’s security alert systems had locked it down. She placed a small disk against it. Ten ‘legs’ extended from it and pierced the console’s surface, emitting an ice blue electronic charge that overrode the controls. The door slid open. She put the tool back in her pocket. 

Dim red lights lit up the skinny corridor beyond leading to a dark pit at the end where metal stairs descended to the floors below. 

“Cool,” Will’s jaw dropped.”It’s like the secret passageway in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.”

“What is that thing?” Derek gestured at the small device.

“It’s an EM node,” the captain explained. “Strong enough to disable the electronic systems of any individual relay for five minutes. I put a modified one under the engine of my ex husband’s car once. It reactivated every time he started the ignition. Left him stranded at a charging station in the middle of the desert for two days before he figured it out.”

“Nice,” kathryn smirked. “Sounds like he wasn’t the sharpest crayon in the box.”

“You have no idea.” She didn’t get the reference, but it’s underlying tone was clear.

Captain Linell entered the escape route. “I’ll go first. Li, take the middle. Lieutenant, bring up the rear.”

Li paused by Will. “You got a bad feeling about this, too, Skywalker?”

“Actually, yeah, I do.”

Li brushed him off and went ahead. 

Nashea paused by Will at the back, who looked like he wanted to punch someone. “Why does he keep calling you that?” she’d heard Li use it before, and this nickname seemed out of place to her, and it obviously irritated the kid.

“It’s a guy from a B-rated sci-fi movie my mom liked. Never took off.”

Everyone hurried through the hall and down four flights of stairs. 

Captain Linell used the EM node again on the door leading to the first floor. The red lights cast an eerie glow in the suspense-filled atmosphere, but they were alone. She silently ushered everyone forward. 

The halls were too quiet for her liking. She tapped the com unit behind her ear. “Commander. Report.”

“The last group met with some resistance, but we have everyone except you,” Commander Flin responded.

“Get ready to fly. We’re almost clear of the facility.”

“Aye, captain.”

Red strikes of pulse gun fire impacted the wall to their right. The kids cried out in fear. 

“Move!” Captain Linell lead them quickly through the hall to the main doors as Lieutenant Nashea unleashed blue bolts of energy at their pursuers. 

The targets struck by the blasts screamed in pain and fell to the floor. The Bind had worn off, and another so soon would be half as efficient. She was shooting to mame, and possibly kill if she had to - though she didn’t want it to come to that. 

They were now running for their lives. 

The light of the morning sun blazed down on the white concrete of the building’s front entrance. The eight remaining people crossed the distance to the grounded Delphi. It’s engines were lit and ready for take-off at a seconds notice. Crew members fired past them into their pursuers. Darts of blue and red lasers impacted the ground. The red didn’t cause any damage, but the blue sent up plumes of dust and grit into the air. 

Lieutenant Nashae ran backwards at the rear of the group, firing deadly rounds into the ground to create a blinding dust screen to give them more cover. 

Captain Linell reached the ramp and stayed at the bottom while the children ran up into the belly of the ship. 

Ensign Ehnik waited at the top with a handful of crew to receive the Terran children and administer first aid if need be. 

Five massive blue bolts struck the ground at the base of the ramp, sending the children toppling forward, and the captain hurled to her side. She stood quickly and scanned the thick cloud of debris. Derek and Nick coughed and sputtered out of the cloud with their arms over each other’s shoulders and back for support.

“Where’s Will and Terra?!” Anahita demanded fearfully. 

“Captain,” Commander Flin’s urgent voice pierced her ears. “More troops are closing in. We’re showing a ship en route. Degull called reinforcements. We have to leave now!”

“Not without all of them.” Linell ground her teeth.   
“Captain!”

“Come on, Nashae,” she muttered. 

“Captain!”

Lieutenant Nashae limped into sight with the boy in her arms and fell to the ramp.

Ensign Ehnik quickly helped them inside and laid Will at the back for medical personnel to treat him. Lieutenant Nashae collapsed. The wound in her right side bled severely. “The girl,” she gasped. “They got her.”  
“Shit.” Captain Linell ran headlong into the settling dust. “Ehnik!”

Without hesitation, Ensign Ehnik followed his captain onto the battlefield. 

Will’s ears rang so loudly, all other sounds bowed to its will. “Terra,” he tried to get up. She’d been right next to him. They’d been at the back running hand in hand. 

Everyone on board watched the cloud light up with colorful bursts of blue. Neither side were shooting to bind or stun anymore. 

Then all went still. 

Tense seconds lived within the settling dust. 

Lieutenant Nashae painfully sat up, taking her gun in hand, and mentally prepared herself for the pain of running while injured back into battle. 

Captain Linell burst through the cloud, wounded in her left leg and carrying Terra in her arms. Ensign Ehnik followed behind. His face marred with blood. The firefight may have stopped, but in that silence, a brief fist fight had ensued. 

She lost strength in her leg and dropped to her knees, setting Terra down gently on the ramp. “Go, Commander! Fly!”

“Two regent vessels on fast approach, commander,” the helmsman reported. 

“Close the bay ramp. Haul ass, Mathis.”

Lieutenant Mathis expertly keyed in manual control. He would need to stay low while the ramp closed, carefully maneuver, and keep them from being shot down. He couldn’t trust that to a computer, no matter how sophisticated it was. He wasn’t the best in his class for nothing. 

Will forced himself away from the nurse - who barked at him to come back - and stumbled over to drop at Terra’s side as the ramp slowly raised and the ship lifted off the ground. He pulled her up to a sitting position and held onto her tightly. “Terra. Terra!” 

Her eyes fluttered open. Once she realized who held her, she clung to Will for security. 

The Delphi turned ninety degrees away from the city and compound toward the less populated hills and valleys. Their escape meant staying out of metropolitan areas. 

Ehnik, Linell, Will, and Terra held onto the ramp as it closed. 

“Thank God,” Ensign Ehnik got to his knees. “We got everyone. They’re safe.” He wrapped his arms about both kids - one in each arm, and stood. “And so is the galaxy.” He launched himself backward, letting the inertia of the ship and gravity pull him with the children out of the Delphi. 

Will’s glasses flew off his face. He cried out as he watched the ship grow smaller. He and Terra screamed just as a blue bolt struck Ehnik in the chest in the small space between them.

Lieutenant Nashae lowered her arm with a contemptuous glare, and the ramp closed. She’d hit her target, but they’d lost the children. 

Ehnik gurgled a final breath with the two kids still tangled in his arms.  

The nearest Regent vessel ignored the Delphi completely, and angled beneath the falling trio. Twin doors slid open at the top of its hull. The pilot, angling the ship perfectly, caught them, simultaneously activating a suspension pocket. It slowed them to a stop before they hit the floor. 

The sudden shift from free-fall to a halt made Will want to throw up. 

The field lowered, dropping them a foot to the floor. They had enough time to squirm out of the dead man’s arms before the doors opened. One Regent officer with sharp purple eyes and dark hair aimed a pulse pistol at them and fired two shots. 

Red bolts struck Will and Terra. Only unlike the minor levels used to paralyze them and anyone around them during their abduction from Earth - the bind - this was a level higher, strong enough to stun them. 

Will’s vision blurred just as he saw Terra fall to her side. He reached for her, and blacked out. 

It’s mission complete, the Regent vessel abandoned its chase of the Delphi, and sped off at full thrusters towards the sky. 

Betrayed and pissed off, Captain Linell got to her feet and headed for the bridge. “After them!”

The Delphi dogged the heels of the Regent vessel, dodging spits of blue pulse canon fire that needled the sky around them. Ripples of energy flowed across their shields from each impact they couldn’t avoid. They fired back. It became a race as to who’s shields would hold the longest. The chase took them between craggy mountains, over wide valleys, and skimming across lakes. Waves of blue-green water plumed outward from the force of their thrusters. 

 “Shields at fifty percent.”

“I don’t care if they’re at zero,” Captain Linell stood at the bridge, wounded, but feeling only anger. “We’re not letting them leave this planet with those Terrans. Focus on their right engine. That’s a Zephyr class. They’re frontal assault vessels. Major fire power and protection in the front - not much in the backyard.”

The Delphi’s pulse canons concentrated all of its firepower as instructed. A pinpoint hole appeared long enough in the other ship’s shields for a single bolt to pierce through and take out the engine. It burst into a plume of smoke. The ship listed to the right. 

A second later, her ops officer called out, “They’re powering up their FTL drive.”

“They’re jumping to light speed in atmosphere? They’re insane,” Commander Flin mirrored his captain’s stunned expression.  No one in their right mind attempted this move on an inhabited world. 

“Fire at will!” Captain Linell ordered. “Ground them!”

The Delphi’s firepower pummeled the ship. 

The Regent vessel’s interstellar engines flared to life, and in a heartbeat, it vanished into the sky.”

The crew of the Delphi were left stunned. 

“Track them.” She breathed. 

“There’s too much interference,” the ops officer said. He paused. “They’re gone.”

A deathly silence overtook the bridge.

Two of the One Thousand Terrans destined to bring hope to the entire galaxy had just been kidnapped by a splinter cell within their own forces. The children would likely be transferred to a different ship, possibly two or more considering who they are, and spirited away to secrecy. It was a common move for the Regents to protect anyone of high rank under threat of assassination. 

On top of that, Ensign Ehnik, one of her own and a trusted friend, had committed the ultimate betrayal not just on the Regents, but on the entire galaxy. 

Captain Linell’s jaw tightened. “Make sure the Terrans are informed. They have a right to know about Will and Terra. Return to the capitol. I will contact Chancellor Urza.”

“Captain?” Commander Flin folded his arms at his back. 

“We are still responsible for the lives of these children. Our primary duty hasn’t changed. We will see them safely and without harm to their predetermined homes.”

They had been sent by their leader to rescue the children from Degull after Linell contacted the chancellor with her concerns regarding the shift in orders. As it turned out, the message to divert the Morning Star back to their home planet came from Senator Degull, hijacking the Chancellor’s personal subspace transmission code. And Senator Runell was an accomplice. 

She held a tacit reaction. Only vengeance rested in her purple irises. “We will find out where Degull is taking them, and retrieve them safe and alive, or we will die trying. You have the bridge, commander.”

The Delphi broke off pursuit and headed back toward the city of Cerilia. 

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #6: Li Chen is from Shanghai, China. Li is 17. He had a little sister, Annchi, whom he would protect with his life. He studied martial arts, but was notorious at school for getting into fights against bullies, which often got him written up for starting the fights once he heard what someone was doing to a younger student. Li lived with his father. His mother died in an earthquake. He was looking into getting a degree in robotics in Tokyo. He was a fighter with a short fuse, getting lost in building robots calmed him down. Although he was abducted in the middle of the street among many witnesses, everyone in the area was hit by bind blasts, so many others fled. As with every pick up, as soon as Li was on board, the ship was off to the next target before any forces could be scrambled. The Regent ships were spotted all over the globe. Each extraction took mere minutes, so Earth's air forces never had a chance.
> 
> At heart, Li is a warrior and a protector.
> 
> Keiko is 7yrs old from Kamakura, Japan. She was in her home, in bed when the Regents shot her parents with bind blasts, bound her, and spirited her away. 
> 
> Li speaks fluent Japanese and English. He 'adopted' Keiko because of how much she reminded him of his little sister.


	7. The Ties that Bind

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Terra experience a strange shared dream on a ringed planet. They wake up in an unfamiliar place to find everything they knew gone, including their names. However now, a weird blue energy is changing them.

 

**Chapter 7**

_Terra…_

The memory of watching her fall from the pulse shot flashed hot through his mind in time to a heart beat. 

The images scrolled along currents of blue energy that spit and lanced around them in an invading force the same shade as the deadly laser bolts. 

He forced his mind to slow the images down, though the sapphire energy remained, consistent and insistent that it lived there, now. Will focused until he could watch a scene where they were sitting on the floor of Delleen’s lounge on the Morning Star, looking out the window at the star lines of FTL and talking about their favorite things. She loved Cheeze-Its. They always made her smile when she ate one. He loved Cheetos. He liked to lick the cheese dust off his fingers. 

Her laugh rang through his head. 

Time slowed to a stand still where it existed, frozen. It began to fade away in a monochrome hue. It would be the last image he saw...forever.

 _No!_ Desperate to keep it alive, he focused all of his energy on maintaining it. He didn’t want it to end. He wanted to go home with her, and he wasn’t going to stop fighting until that happened. If he lost, he knew he would live in darkness forever, and that terrified him. Throughout all of this, Will’s one great fear was still ‘the dark.’ But now another added to it. 

Losing Terra. 

She was his bravery and his heart. And he found courage because he wanted to protect that. 

The image slowly regained its color. 

A spiral of blue energy swirled like an electrical current around it and him. It felt warm and reassuring, like it heard his cry. It brought the image to full clarity, and time began to move once more. The energy moved like it had a life of its own. It fast forwarded through the memories of his life. It wanted to learn about him, so it forced every moment he drew breath out in a flurry of images and emotions. It slowed on the week he’d been away from home until it brought him back to the present. 

He sat up within the memory and pulled his way out from under Ehnik’s heavy arm. The room tilted slightly, and held a blue vignette. Nothing was clear, like it was distorted in a foggy mirror. He wondered if it was a side effect of being shot with a bind blast powerful enough to knock him unconscious. 

He scrambled over to free Terra from Ehnik’s hold, only she didn’t wake up as he did. Adrenaline spiked through him in terror. What if the shot had killed her? 

 _Terra! Wake up! Come on._ _We gotta go. Please wake up! Wake up! Terra!_

His voice sounded far away, like in a dream. He wasn’t over the loss of his planet, or losing his family, and now he may have lost his new family, and closest companion. 

A sharp pain crawled from a hot point in the back of his neck to ride the veins throughout his body. He yelped, cupping the sore area. Every part of him heated up, like he’d been forced to sit too close to a bonfire. He scrunched his eyes shut against it and curled over as the pain spread out from his veins to the rest of him, piercing through every cell, tying its threads through his DNA, through his very structure, and reaching further inward to his soul. The blue energy flowed in thin lightning-like tendrils across his skin, leaching out from his center. It wove through his mind, through the very basic elements that created him, and knotted tightly. Tears slipped from his eyes. It hurt. He fought against it, but that seemed to make it worse. 

“Relax,” an unfamiliar woman’s soothing voice broke through the pain. “Breathe. That’s it. Just breathe. It’ll be over soon.”

Will shuddered a breath. It took a few moments - or hours, he couldn’t tell- for his eyes to open. He wiped away the tears. 

The room was gone, as was Terra. Everything had vanished. He wasn’t on the Regent vessel anymore. He wasn’t anywhere. All that surrounded him was a dark, empty void.

He started to panic.

A ghost-like image of his own arm illuminated in blue lifted out of his body for a second like a burn trail after staring at a light bulb for too long. He shook his arm up and down. The more he moved, the easier it became for the image to match every twitch of his muscles until it synchronized perfectly with him and he couldn’t see it anymore. “That was weird,” he mused.

[That was weird,] his voice echoed back.  

That struck him as odd, as there were no surfaces for sound to reflect off. “Hello?” He called out. 

[Hello?] an identical echo replied. 

“Is anyone here?”

[Is anyone here?]

“Where am I?”

[Where am I?] The echo sounded less like an echo and more like it was asking him that question. Someone else using his voice was answering by way of mimicry.

“I don’t know, but I’m scared.”

[I don’t know, but I’m scared.] The timbre of the echo held the pure emotion of confusion.

“Why does it hurt? What’s happening to me?”

[Why does it hurt? What’s happening to me?!] The copied reply exuded uncertainty.

Will widened his eyes in an attempt to see any sort of landscape, but failed. What he could see of his body was blurry. He’d lost his glasses. The darkness swallowed them up forever. He began to panic. “I can’t see!”

[I can’t see!] It sounded slightly more panicked. 

His eyes teared up without warning and burned like his mother was cutting an onion in the kitchen. When it passed, the surroundings were still as black as night, but he could now see his own body perfectly. 

The new visual clarity helped to calm him down. Whatever caused his eyes to burn had fixed his vision. He looked around, hoping he could find his friend. “Where’s Terra?”

[Terra?] the echo only caught the second word.

“My friend.”

[My friend.]

“I can’t lose her. I have to find her.”

[I can’t lose her. I have to find her.]

“I made a promise.”

[I made a promise.] Each repeat sounded like it was accepting his truth completely as its own.

“Help me.”

[Help me.]

Will looked around for the source of the person copying him. Now he knew it wasn’t simply a reverberation of sound. He was speaking to someone else, and that person...no...presence was just as confused as himself. “Who are you?”

[Who are _you_?] The echo wasn’t exact this time. It put the emphasis on ‘you,’ which he hadn’t done. Almost like it was learning. And that let him know he was definitely talking to someone else.

“I’m Will.”

The echo accepted the identity in a unique, definitive, absolute tone. [I’m Will.] 

Figuring he might be speaking to someone who only knew how to reply via copying him, he took a risk to engage it further rather than become defensive. Whoever it was used his words to communicate. “Where are you?”

[Where are you?]

“I’m right here.”

[I’m right here.]  
He turned in a slow circle. “Will you help me?”  
[Will you help me?]

If he put a sense of willingness to cooperate into his answer, the other voice might as well. And so, he accepted this other voice. “Yes.”

The reply held that same, final acceptance. [Yes.]

Pinpricks of color and lights blurred into focus in the darkness. 

What replaced it filled him with awe. 

He was in the open vastness of space. 

Will floated among the stars in just his normal clothes, without a protective spacesuit, completely exposed to the deadly, cold vacuum. He should be turning into an icicle, and yet he was breathing, and perfectly warm. 

Vibrant nebulas and glittering stars surrounded him as though he were suspended within a jeweled marble. Planets drifted lazily in the distance. The sight was more lucid than any dream he’d ever had, and rivaled the stunning views of wakefulness. He’d never seen anything more grand, awe-inspiring, and amazing in his life.

His mind reeled with confusion. Sensory overload kept him from speaking. He glanced down to try to walk in zero gravity. Logically speaking, there was nothing to push against, no atmosphere, no wind, and no physical object. Without external inertia, he would drift forever. 

He tried anyway out of curiosity to see what would happen. As he moved, strings of the blue energy pulled out of his foot to coalesce into a small disk concentrated beneath his shoe. The surface was hard, though promised give if he needed it to. Curious, he stepped forward where another disk appeared beneath his right foot. He continued this way, slowly walking through space. 

What was this blue light stuff? Was he creating it? Why did he feel like it was alive?

“Terra,” His voice echoed into the expanse, but no one answered back. Was she here? Did she see this, too? “Terra! Where are you?” he ran forward, then used the disks to angle himself in a different upward direction. ...No, every direction in space was up. He existed in four dimensions. “Terra!”

“Will?” her voice held a slight reverb. 

“Terra?”

“Will! I’m here!” 

“Where’s here?”

“I can hear you, but I can’t see you! Where are you?!”

Determined more than ever in his life, he broke into a run. He would run through all of the cosmos to reach her if he had to. 

As if answering the strength of his heart, the galaxy warped, pulled itself into star lines, that slingshotted him along a roller coaster einstein-rosen bridge. It hurled him beyond planets like they were standing still, beyond solar systems, quasars, pulsars, nebulas, protostars, through asteroid fields, stellar nurseries, and around the glowing event horizons of gravity wells. What felt like ages rushed by in seconds. He screamed. Something else was in control. 

Will landed effortlessly on a grassy valley. The blue disks dissipated at his feet after a few stumbled steps to keep his balance. A warm breeze swept through the soft, knee-high verdant grasses and combed through his hair. There were dark foothills to the east and a vast horizon to the west, giving him plenty of area to view the sky. Starlight feathered the edges of bulbous storm clouds over the hills.

A thick blanket of stars speckled the inky night, swelling in the center with reddish blue dust to form an arm of the Milky Way galaxy. Without any light pollution, it gave the air a cool blue tint aided by the glow of a full moon hovering over the hills.

An island floated in the sky far to the west. He could make out its shape, but not much more than that. It resembled a massive, wide shark’s tooth.

He was dumbstruck at the sheer clarity of the scene. But what made his jaw slack was a sight he’d never witnessed beyond artwork and movies. 

Two thick, striated planetary rings separated by a thin dark line arched across the sky slightly to his right, cutting through the Milky Way at the edge of the horizon. It glowed softly like a watercolor rainbow dipping into the storm clouds.

His eyes widened, trying to take in every nuance of color, trying to process the enormous astrological phenomenon splitting the sky.

“Whoa,” he breathed. He didn't want to blink. There was too much to learn, too much to take in, and he wanted to absorb it all. It was so vivid and clear, it may as well be reality. He felt like he could scoop out a handful of the sky and have it drip through his fingers like paint. 

The light from the starlit rings glinted in his dark eyes. 

“Will!” Terra ran toward him.

He snapped out of it. “Terra!” The dreamscape became secondary. He ran toward her and hugged her tightly. “You’re ok! Don’t do that to me, you idiot.”

“Me? You got shot! I watched you. Are you ok? Are you hurt?” she placed her hand against his chest where she saw the red bolt strike him. Energy snaked across her hand as well as his shirt.

“Ah!” She recoiled and held her arm up. It didn’t hurt, but it felt like pins and needles. Oddly enough, it felt familiar. “What was that?”

“I don’t know,” he clutched at his shirt. Whatever electrical charge came out of him reacted to her - not in an aggressive way, but with a strong need to seek out and connect with the identical energy from her hand. “I...I saw it before. First I was in space, and then I could run on these blue disks that came out of my feet, and then I was in FTL, and now I’m here on Saturn with a lawn.”

“I was floating in space, too,” she said. “All this blue lightning attacked me. I heard my voice echoing everything I said, and then it suddenly stopped and I was fine. Then I was thrown here.” 

“Me, too. What was up with that?”

She turned in a slow circle to take in the ethereal world. “Where are we?” 

He glanced around, worried now that they were stuck on another alien world alone.  What would Indiana Jones do in this situation? “We should try to find someone who can help us. Maybe they can tell us where we are and help us get back to…” he cut off his words before he could say the name of the one place he could never return to.

She finished his sentence sadly. “Earth?”

He looked up at the sky and frowned. “I don’t know what else to say. If we can’t go back to Earth, then where? We have nowhere else to go.”

She stared up at the rings. “What about here? I’m not scared here.”

As mysterious as it was, he wasn’t afraid of it, either. It was like being in a memory of a place he should know. 

“Once we do find someone to help, we’ll ask them to help us find Delleen and the Captain. They care about us. We can go to them.”

She’d managed to find hope where he was lost. Using that strength from her, he nodded. “Ok. Let’s go--Ah!” He gripped the back of his neck again as another shot of pain washed through him. 

“Ow!” the same hit her. Both dropped to their knees. 

“Heart rate is rising,” The same woman’s voice sounded like it was underwater. 

“The boy is regaining consciousness,” a man said.

“Keep them sedated. One more treatment should do it for now,” an older man ordered with confidence. 

“Sir. Their pulse monitors are in sync. We didn’t anticipate this.”

“They’re not in the same room. How is that possible?”

“Their vitals are erratic,” The voices belonged to three distinct people. 

“Keep going.”

“Doctor, we must use caution. We can’t afford to lose them.”

“They have already returned from cardiac arrest once. They can handle this.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Phase One Inclusion at ninety percent.”

“Just a little more…”

Both ten year olds felt a sting at the back of their necks again. It brought tears to their eyes, but this time, they grabbed each other’s hands. The pain dissipated far faster than before.

“Inclusion at one-hundred percent. Phase one mergence complete. No sign of rejection.”

“Excellent,” the older man’s smile could be heard in his voice. “We’ve done it. After all this time, we’ve succeeded. Stabilize them.”

The ringed world faded back into clarity.

“Doctors?” Terra bit her lip. “I hate doctors. What is ‘inclusion?’ What does that mean? Does that mean I’m dreaming?”

Will shrugged. “I’m dreaming, too, but we’re here. I guess we’re having the same dream.”

“What if...what if we’re dead?” Terra muttered fearfully. 

“We’re not dead, so shut up,” he snapped, more to convince himself than her. 

She pouted. 

“Sorry. Listen, we’re not dead, ok?”

“Ok,” she nodded. “We’ll be alright.”

“Yeah. We’re together, so we’ll be fine.” He took her hand, picked a direction, and started walking toward the floating island. It was a good place to start, and he wanted to see it with more urgency than the hills.

“The island looks cool. I wonder if anyone lives there.”

“Maybe they can help us. Indiana Jones would be all over exploring a world with a ring,” Will said. He wanted her to relax, and talking about his favorite adventurer always worked for him. When it got too dark, he imagined what Indy would do to escape danger. 

“What are those rings made of?” Terra asked. She did the same to calm him down, knowing he was fascinated by space, even after what happened to them. 

“Anything that gets pulled into a high orbit around a planet and maintains that orbit stays there. Saturn is hit by falling ring debris all the time.”

“What kind of debris?”

“Asteroids, exploded moons, pieces of comets, ice, dust, space junk, pies--”

“Pies?” she chuckled, amused at his humor.

He instantly banked on this key to making her smile. She liked his humor. “Corndogs, bicycles, pickles, trees, clowns…”

She joined in, “Kick balls, ducks, books, giant, huge piles of --”

“--boogers!” they both laughed. 

“I wish Earth had a ring.”

“It probably would in a really long time. It would be made of satellites and rockets and ...space...junk,” he stopped. 

“Will,” her hand slipped from his. “I feel sick.” 

His eyes widened as he saw her start to fade away. 

“Will, help!”  
“Terra?” He reached out for her seconds before she disappeared. In that moment, he felt weak and light headed. “Terra!”

 

****

Will’s eyes snapped open. 

The round ceiling light above was turned off, but even so, the white room still reflected anything that exuded illumination. 

He rubbed the back of his neck from residual phantom pain from the dream. 

The dream…

He sat up and looked around. He’d been put into soft, white pants and a long sleeve shirt, and he was barefoot. The room had two seats and one oval shaped bed with a side table bearing a cup and water pitcher on it, but nothing more in furnishing. It looked like a hospital waiting room, though was definitely of alien design. That thrust it home more that he wasn’t on Earth. 

Plus, everything was in full crystal clarity, and he wasn’t wearing his glasses.

He hopped off the bed and chugged a cup of water.

One large window spanned the wall to his right, revealing a room of identical design. 

Terra sat on her bed looking around in the same confused state. 

“Terra!” He banged his fist against the window.

The noise caught her attention. “Will!” She was at the window in seconds. “Are you ok? I had the freakiest dream.”

“Me, too. You were there --”

“--and there was a planet--”

“With a ring,” they both said. 

He stopped for a beat. “Freaky.” He looked around. “Do you know where we are?”

She shook her head. “uh-uh. I just woke up. Hey. Where are your glasses?”

“I lost them, but I can see. I don’t know how.” He hated that they were separated by a wall for no reason. “Hang on. I’m going to try something. Back up.”

She did so as he pulled one of the chairs over, and strained to lift it. This looked easier on t.v. He managed to hoist the chair a few inches off the floor, but he was too weak to do more than a feeble toss. He panted, feeling sick and covered his stomach. 

“It’s ok. Stop,” Terra placed her hand against the window. “You tried.”

He stumbled over and rested his hand against hers with the glass separating them. “I’m ok. Don’t worry. I’ll break through this. I’ll try again and--huh? Whoa...”

In that moment, fine tendrils of blue energy, the same from their dream, leached out of their skin toward each other as though attracted by magnets. 

Will jerked his hand away, watching the lines dissipate. It left a warm, tingling sensation in the tips of his fingers. A dream was one thing, but he was awake now, and this has never happened before. He knew he hadn’t hit puberty yet, but from what he was told to expect, blue lightning coming out of his body wasn’t on that list. 

Curiosity’s strength claimed him again, as it usually did. He placed his palm against the glass. Terra mirrored him. Both were too shocked to speak as the energy reached through the glass like it didn’t exist and wrapped around their hands. The threads from her absorbed into his skin.

Will’s nausea gradually disappeared. 

The energy seemed to dance delicately with a life of its own fed by the two children. They watched it, entranced. 

The sensation of it pulling out of her arm made her cry out in panic. She pulled away and stumbled back. The threads melted back into her. “What was that? What’s happening to us?” she wrapped her arms around herself. 

Will stared at his hand as the energy disappeared. There’s no way that could be real. It was a dream. Elements of a dream couldn’t cross over into reality. It was impossible. But he couldn’t deny that he felt much better. “Whatever you did, I think it fixed me.”

She stepped forward, afraid to touch the glass again. “How? I...I just wanted you to be ok.”

“I don’t know. But we need to get out of here and find Captain Linell. She’ll know what to do.”

“Captain Tevara Linell is dead,” that same confident male voice boomed its baritone behind him. 

Will spun around at the man who appeared from the door in his room. “What do you know, you jerkface! Captain Linell isn’t dead. She tried to save us.”

“No, she tried to kidnap you,” he schooled the young boy as though he’d answered every question on a test incorrectly. “Linell, Flin, Delleen, Mathis, Quin, and Nashea disobeyed their direct orders to keep you safe. She was going to deliver you all to the Xox.”

“That’s a lie,” Terra pounded her fist against the glass. “They would never do that!”

“You’ve been a refugee from that backwater planet for two weeks, and you already know the captain and her subordinates like you’re old friends, hm?” He smiled. 

“It’s only been six days,” Will argued. 

“You’ve been kept in a coma for one galactic standard week,” he explained. “To give you a time reference, by a Terran calendar, that would be...two weeks.”

Will’s jaw dropped. 

“You were feeling sick just now, yes? It’s because you haven’t had solid food in your stomach for that entire time. Over exertion will make you ill. I suggest you refrain from extraneous activity for a while”

“You’re a horrible man,” Terra spat.

“My dear, that’s where you’re wrong. You both will start to feel hungry very soon, so we’ve prepared meals for you of specific nutritional value to compensate for the demands of your current physiology.”

She grit her teeth. “Get away from Will! Don’t touch him, or I’ll--!”

“Turn down the heat, Two-Twelve, I’m not going to hurt him or you. In fact, I’ve saved you. Were it not for the sacrifice of Ensign Ehnik, you’d be at Linell’s mercy and halfway across the galaxy by now.”

Will dove at the side table and snatched up a thin hand-sized tech tube to use as a weapon. “Who are you?”

“I’m Doctor D’Sev Barakan. I’m the one who gave you a purpose.”

“We already have one. W-we’re The One Thousand. We’re--”

“--Going to start an uprising of hope in the galaxy that might take hold in one or two generations? It was enough to scare the pants off the Xox into blowing your planet to incremental bits, is that right?”

“Blow it up…?” Will whispered. 

“They didn’t blow it up,” Terra argued. “Earth is still there.”

“No,” the doctor reached out fearlessly and swiped the cylinder from Will’s hand. He tapped a button on the side and a transparent screen pulled out like a scroll, locking to form a solid data pad. He pulled up a video. “It’s not.” He handed it back.

Will took it. Terra watched from over his shoulder. The Earth lit up like a coal in a  furnace, cracked, splintered, and shattered. Pieces of the once green and blue world hurtled into space. 

“The Regents left a ship hidden in the Terran system to observe the Xox, then check on your people once they’d gone. This is what happened. I’m afraid the one thousand of you rescued are the only Terran Humans left in existence.”

“You’re lying. This..this is CGI. It’s fake. Sci-fi shows do this all the time. I’ve been watching shows like this since I was a baby,” Will narrowed his eyes.

“It is not ‘Cee-gee-eye,’ I assure you.”

 Will watched it loop, showing the explosion over and over. “It’s a lie. It’s not real! ” Blue electricity sparked over his hand as he threw the tech at the scientist. “You’re a liar!

It shattered against the wall to Doctor Barakan’s left. He glanced down at the dark grey pieces. “Hm. Interesting. Do that again, Two-Forty-Six.”

“Earth is still there, and Captain Linell will find you and kick your ass!” Terra shouted. 

“Language,” the doctor scolded lightly. “If you want to know about the good captain, check your datadot, Two-Twelve.”

“My name is Terra,” her fists clenched. 

“I’m aware you changed it,” he dismissed the information. He noticed the power flicker over her hands, and simply waited. 

Terra ran to get her own datapad and turned it on. The same footage played. “No,” she shook her head violently and dropped the tech. It clattered against the tile floor. 

“You’ve been lied to from the start,” the doctor purred. “We couldn’t reroute the other ships, but we could reroute yours thanks to Ehnik. I’m sorry about the rest of the Terrans on the Morning Star, but we were only able to rescue you. The Regents lied to you. They lied to everyone, even Chancellor Urza. And that Ephypsan with them can never be trusted.”

“Ephypsan?” Will whispered. “Who?”

“Delleen. Her planet was destroyed by the Xox four hundred years ago. Sure, the Regents placed an Aurora Star there, but that will never be enough for her. She wants to eliminate the Xox, and she was willing to sacrifice your lives to do so.”

That’s what Delleen had meant when she’d said they were more alike than he’d thought. 

“No,” Terra cried. “Stop it, please.”

“You don’t believe me? I figured you’d be brainwashed. They’re good at their jobs. Two-Twelve, push the red button on your datadot. It’ll bring up a news feed.”

She tentatively did as she was told and moved so that Will could watch from his side of the glass. 

The female Masakan reporter from GNN (the Galactic News Network) spoke in a stiff, standard media tone. “Tevara Linell, former captain of the Morning Star and one of the fleet’s most notable names, was apprehended today in hiding for the attempted kidnapping and relocation of fifty of the One Thousand - the Terran children hunted by the Xox. The Regent high council convicted her and her subordinates of high treason to Chancellor Urza, and labeled them as traitors to the galaxy. They are scheduled to be executed within the week. 

“Thankfully, all the Terrans were rescued unharmed. They were immediately sent to their predetermined homes across the galaxy, and allowed to live their lives in peace.”

The transmission cut out.

Terra stared at her reflection in the dark screen. 

“That was a week ago,” the doctor added.

Her hands trembled. “But they were so nice to us. Delleen gave us pancakes, and...and the captain told stories of her adventures.” 

Will placed both palms against the glass. “Don’t believe it, Terra. It has to be a lie. The captain is still out there, and so is Earth. She’ll rescue us,” Will tried, but he was falling as well. 

Doctor Barakan kept his distance. “I’m sorry. I wish it was a lie.” 

Will backed up against the glass. “Everyone… Nick, and Derek, Anahita, Kathryn, Li, Keiko...they’ve all been sent to other worlds?”

He nodded. “Scattered across the known galaxy like dust. It’s unlikely that you will ever see any of them again.”

“W-what about us? What’s going to happen to us?”

“This is your new home, now. You two have a far greater destiny to play out.” The scientist’s smile grew almost to his bushy brown eyebrows. 

Will lifted his hand. The energy wasn’t visible anymore, but he could feel something present, alive within the cells of his body. It was more a sense than a physical thing. “What did you do to us?” 

“I am giving you a gift. You have a rare opportunity to avenge your planet, your families, your friends from the Morning Star, and get revenge on everyone who betrayed you. I am giving you the power to fight back.”

The only person Will truly had now was on the other side of this window. He felt the energy from before tingle up his spine. It made him shiver. “Screw you!” He shouted, clenching his fists against the sensation. He didn’t want to pander to this old man. “I’m not going to do anything you say! You’re a liar! I hope you trip and fall into a huge steaming pile of dog shit!”

“Seriously, who taught you this language?” Doctor Barakan sighed. “I was hoping the truth would be enough to unlock your potential, but it seems for now, we’ll have to take drastic measures. Once that barrier is broken, progressing should only be a matter of time and patience.”

The door to Terra’s room slid open and two men in green rubber uniforms walked in. They scooped her up by her arms. 

“No! Put me down!” she screamed, kicking and flailing. “Will!”

“Terra!” He tried to push through the window. “Let her go, you dumb gorillas! Where are you taking her?! Give her back!”

The doctor ducked out of the room.

Will found himself alone. 

Seconds later, a loud ‘boom’ from an explosion flickered the lights in the room and rattled the cup and water pitcher on the table. Will felt the shock wave. “No… No! Terra!”

The doctor walked into her abandoned room moments later and simply watched. 

“You big, fat, butt-faced, jerkwad!” Will slammed himself against the glass, bouncing off and landing on the floor. His head spun. He felt sick, but he ignored it. “What happened to her? Where is she? Give her back!” He rammed his fist against the glass. “Please! She’s all I have! Give her back!”

“No.”

He hit the glass repeatedly. Helpless, defeated, frustrated, and angry to the point of seeing red, Will balled up his fists and did the only thing he could think to do to release the pent up energy swelling like an angry wolf within his chest. He screamed. 

A blue shock wave exploded from him, shattering the wide window as though it were made of sugarglass. Both chairs were blown up against the wall from the kinetic energy, and the nightstand, cup, and pitcher flew across the room. The light flickered, dimmed, and came back on. 

Will dropped to his knees, exhausted, scared, and crying. 

Doctor Barakan allowed a grin to crease his thin lips. “Excellent, Two-Forty-Six. You’ve done remarkably well. I’m very proud of both you and Two-Twelve. You’re exceeding expectations.”

“My name… is Will,” he rasped.

“Not anymore,” the doctor turned his back on the emotionally wrecked Terran boy and left the room. 

Nera - the same woman from the consulate building with the datapad - met him in the hall. She now wore a laboratory coat. “The girl is just as strong. Both of her handlers suffered concussive injuries. To think the activation trigger would be as easy as separating them.” 

“They’re highly attached to each other. This could pose a problem. We’ll need to keep a very close eye on them.”

“Yes, doctor.”

“I was promised fifty of these children,” he grumbled, irritated that his plans - four years in the making - had to undergo heavy adaptations at the last second. “But I can work my magic with two.We’ll need to keep them drugged during the phases. For our safety and theirs, of course.”

“Imagine what they’ll become when the inclusion treatments are complete.”

“Inform the staff and contact Senator Runell. Whatever these children need, we’ll provide. Two-Forty-Six and Two-Twelve are now the most important beings in the galaxy.”

“Perhaps we should call them by their names, Doctor,” Nera suggested as he started walking away. 

“That will only let the staff get attached. These two have only one purpose to fulfill. Let’s begin Phase Two tonight.”

“Yes, Doctor.” 

He paused and addressed her more softly. “Set up a separate bed in one of the rooms for now, and make sure they’re taken to connected living quarters. Bring their meals as well. I might be out to save trillions of lives with the lives of two, but I’m not heartless.”

She nodded. 

 

Will was too weak to fight the rubber-clad assistant that picked him up and carried him out of the damaged room. Blue energy coursed along his skin, flickered, and died. 

He was barely aware of being set down on another bed, this time in a decent room that looked livable and furnished, and even had a window with rounded corners looking out onto a well-kept, green lawn with small blue wild flowers. Even their personal belongings were set neatly on a shelf. The room was made to be comfortable, clean, bright, and inviting. A single door led to another room to the left of the window next to a door leading outside

He dropped sluggishly to the floor. He couldn’t see straight, but he was drawn toward the cushions in the middle. 

Terra shuffled across the cushions where they’d laid her and embraced Will, meeting hm half way. They were both drained, and the mysterious reason frightened them. A scarce few threads of energy lived and died within breaths around them. 

Their friends were gone - scattered across the galaxy. Their world was now an asteroid field. Their families were dead. And the captain they’d trusted to keep them safe betrayed them. 

They wanted the only family they had left, the only connection left to themselves and their identities. So they held onto each other for their lives, and their sanity. 

Doctor Janna Malarei frowned sadly from behind the security camera monitor. The image of the two small kids reflected in her purple eyes. These might be Terrans - the fourth and most juvenile of the known Human species - but they were still children, and they needed to heal from all this damage. She would make sure they had ample time with a psychiatrist. 

Thankfully, time wasn’t an issue. They had the whole of their lives here to recover.

  


* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #7: The burning sensation in Will's eyes was the product of Phase 1 reacting to his panic, also panicking, and responding by repairing his bad eyesight.


	8. Darrak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meet Yune Darrak: smuggler, outlaw, thief, adventurer, explorer, and cookie-loving, finger-gunning smart-ass.  
> While in the capital city of New Cerilia on the planet Masaka, Yune's day ends with some information that he hopes may change his life.

(song for club reference: [Bad Guy - Billie Eilish](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-TbQnONe_w))

**\---------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 8**

_One year later…_

 

Masaka presented a pristine streamlined, clean, and bright image to the galaxy, and for the most part, that was the truth. 

Remnants of ancient structures, and cracked walls from the days when the war infected the planet can still be found across its surface despite the republic government building skyscrapers over it like gravestones.

While Masakan society was utopian in most regards, it simultaneously covered the scars of its past within the cracks of older cities, tucked away down narrow, darkened streets, and among shady establishments, back alley deals, and underground criminal activity. 

Most of the Alliance worlds used ‘Marks’ - the accepted galactic currency. Whenever the Regents would receive payment for services rendered in a species preferred method of payment, they would stockpile it away and use it whenever they needed something from that species in return, since they had no use for it themselves. 

The only race out of the three FTL capable human species to hold onto a monetary system was the third youngest: Mik. Money still controlled much of Mikra’s corporations and heavily populated and developed mega cities. As a result, Mikra still held the highest rate of crime, and it’s most war-devastated city of Qora Ness was at the top of that list - peppered with syndicates, cartel holdouts, and smaller thieving dens. 

Once more, Yune Darrak found himself driving his hover bike through the pocket of murk in Cerilia’s south-end surface level. ‘Murk’ was putting it lightly. This was clean in comparison to what he grew up in. 

Still, the surface of Masaka’s metropolis was not a place you would want to take a walk through alone at any time of day. 

It reminded him a little of home. All it was missing was the burnt carbon-solder smell clinging to the walls, the rubble that had yet to be cleaned up in the past thirty years, and the crime. Not to say the entire planet of Mikra was a slimy, gritty, larceny and gang-riddled life trap. No, that was just his home town of Qora Ness. The rest of Mikra was still trying to rehabilitate the scum city, but having the Mikran industry's main source of income be shipyards and other tech manufacturing facilities put a toll on the planet and its people. Especially those unlucky enough to live in the wrecked city. 

Areas of his homeworld were still beautiful, and some of the cities did their best to stay hygienic with more and more Masakan influence. He, however, rarely saw any of that green utopia beyond vids and photos. 

He parked the bike outside a club, locked it, and pulled down the hem of his brown jacket. He strode confidently toward the unmarked metal door and the built, mocha-colored, four-armed alien bouncer guarding it. A laid-back bass beat muffled out of the dimly lit club surrounded by holographic billboard signs, and spasming neon lights. Humans and aliens loitered around outside smoking, talking, or in the case of a green-skinned Aq’zed couple, making out with their slim, twin, slick cranial tendrils extending out from behind their ears under their straight hair entwined just out of the street light. 

He flicked a silver coin to the bouncer. “Hey, G’mork. Long time no see. How’s the wife and kids? You...are the one with the kids, right? I can never remember if it’s you or your twin brother. You’re both just so gosh darned handsome.”

The unamused and annoyed Quadralorn held the coin between two meaty fingers and tapped the surface gently. The number ‘500’ appeared in the center. He nodded down once to the human and pushed the door open.

“Appreciated,” Yune adjusted the goggles set over his hair and flashed a salesman-esque grin. “You were always my favorite.”

The Quadralorn’s lower right hand planted against Yune’s chest, covering his upper torso. A deep growl rumbled in the back of his thick throat. “No funny business, Darrak.”

Yune casually pushed the alien’s hand down with both of his. He wasn’t short, but even at six feet tall, he had to look up at the intimidating seven-foot tall alien.  “Funny business? Who do you think you’re talking to? It’s me.”

The bouncer growled dangerously close to his face.

He cleared his throat, aware he’d put himself in hot water. “Easy. I promise I’ll be on my best behavior,” he planted his hand over his own heart. “You have my word.”

“You said that last time,” G’mork growled in his native, consonant and grumble-heavy language. “I had to clean up your mess.”

Thanks to Yune’s translator nanites, he understood every word in his native language: Masakan. “Hey, that was in self defense. Look. I promise I won’t be the one to start a fight this time.”

G’mork lowered his arm, though kept his dark eyes glued to the outlaw’s back. 

“You’re my number one guy, G’mork,” Yune flashed him a set of finger guns with a wink - a convivial gesture he’d picked up from a Terran while visiting their planet nine years ago. He liked it so much, he adopted it. 

G’mork huffed in irritation.  

Yune walked through the dim, green-lit hall toward the music bleeding out of the club.

He paused to take in the establishment, observing where people sat, the lighting, how long it would take to escape in a fire fight -- the usual situations. 

The sultry, breathy, smooth female vocals from the live band did their job of immersing the room in a haze of pulsing, melodic tones to accent the beat. 

His dark-toned clothing let him melt in with the scene. Most people here didn’t want to be found, and he was no exception. He strolled up to the bar. “One Virudian Hyper Zone.”

The Quadralorn bartender - still just as tall as, but nowhere near as buff as the meat mountain sentry outside - quickly mixed the requested drink, and handed the small glass to the Mik. One would never guess the two aliens were related. Let alone twins.

Yune set down another coin. 

The bartender pocketed the mark.

He sipped the turquoise, fizzing liquid. It popped and bubbled like a creature thrashing to escape. “Ah, that hits the spot every time,” he mused. This was his favorite drink for a reason. He listened to the synth and drums accompanying the ghostly-white-skinned alien woman’s clear vocals and that of her two backup singers. 

All were of the same race -  Idrians from the sister planets of Idriolara, Idriosura, and Idriokera. They were bald with skulls that looked to be molded upward from clay, leaving the grooves of ‘clay’ converging at the upward tip of their heads. They weren’t too keen on sunlight - as their pale blue eyes denoted - and their lithe forms made them look like endyr wood branches. They were the only aliens to remind him of the vanilla-colored trees from his home planet. 

“You know,” A man with half of his hair shaved and the other half resembling the bushy tail of a startled mammal settled up beside him, “I came here to relax, have a few drinks, forget about my wife kicking me out, but what do I find instead?” he frowned, “you.”

“Nice to see you again, too, Zaf,” he sipped his drink, not looking at his tall, wiry companion. 

“And here you show up just as I was starting to enjoy myself,” Zaf glared. 

“Don’t let me stop you. Honestly, your wife is kind of a noc. Let me pay for some time for you,” Yune went to remove a mark chip from his dark pants pocket when the other’s skeletal-like fingers gripped his hand. 

“Not necessary.”

“Ok,” he shrugged and went back to his drink. 

“What are you doing here, Darrak?”

“Having a drink.”

“No, you’re not.”

“I…” Yune glanced to the drink, then to his impromptu companion. “I know my eyesight is bad, but I have corrective contacts for that. What’s your excuse?” 

“You only come here on business,” Zaf hissed softly.

“Maybe my business is done.”

Zaf put venom into his slow words. “Not likely.”

Yune took another sip, enjoying the bubbles tickling all the way down. He let the empty silence linger in order to frustrate the other human. “Look, Zaf. You’re a good friend, one of the best in the business, and I respect you. But if I were in the middle of work, and you weren’t already part of it, you aren’t gonna be. So let me enjoy my drink, and buy you some time with one of the pleasure aids, hm?” He planted his hand on the other’s shoulder. “Your wife left you. It’s the least I can do for a friend.”

Zaf snarled and accepted the offer. “Twenty minutes.”

“Ten.”

“Fifteen.”

“Deal.” 

The bartender served up the kes human’s’ preferred drink, a simple Masakan whiskey. 

A moment passed where the two old friends simply sat in each others company. 

“I gotta hit the head. Watch my drink.” Yune got up and walked to the men's restroom. 

Zaf sniffed his friend’s drink and grimaced. “Uch. Disgusting.”

Yune entered the men’s room, did his business, and waited for the other occupants to finish up and leave him alone. As soon as they did, he placed a scrambler on the door pad, and keyed in a code that temporarily locked the door for five minutes. It was long enough to complete his task, but not too long for anyone to suspect more than a brief lock malfunction. 

He removed a small kit from a pouch hidden on his belt beneath his jacket, and extracted a palm-sized scanner from it. He held it up to his eyes and scanned his irises. The tech picked up the information stored within the gold ring along the outside of his contact lenses. He plugged the scanner into the port on his datadot and transferred the information over. A video of the club from his point of view played back on the screen. He paused it and zoomed in on the back corner where a half-open curtain hid a familiar green and orange jacket on a man with blond curly hair pulled up in a top knot. 

He grinned. “Gotchya.”

Satisfied. Yune put everything away and unlocked the door. 

A short alien with fins on his head burst in covering his genitalia, and dove into a stall. The door slammed against the frame, but didn’t lock and drifted open. 

“Sorry, friend,” Yune apologized to the sound of relieved urination. “The lock jammed. Watch that door, buddy.”

“Thank you!” the alien responded in a deep, gruff voice. 

Yune hesitated in mild surprise. He did not expect that intimidating voice to come out of a being that only came up to his waist. He returned to his seat and called the bartender over. “Hey. Give my man here fifteen minutes.”

The bartender took the money and passed a keycard over to Zaf. 

Zaf nodded his approval, grinned, and headed for private room Orion.

Once his friend was gone, Yune handed over another mark. “And, uh, see that guy in the back booth over there? Well, I bet him a thousand marks that he couldn’t get a genuine shocked response from Zaf. Now, you know how Zaf is. Nothing surprises him. Do me a favor and give fifteen minutes to my friend there in the same room. But wait 2 minutes before sending him in.”

The bartender eyed him suspiciously. “And if I don’t?”  
“Come on, it’s a harmless prank. You get twice the money for one room, and I get the satisfaction of seeing my friend eat his words. And I become one thousand richer.”

The bartender accepted the currency. “It’s been a boring night. Why not. Leave your weapon at the bar before going in.”

He sighed and grudgingly handed over his pulse pistol. “I’d better get this back.”

He made a note of where the Quadralorn stashed his gun and waited. 

A confidant of the establishment pulled back the curtain slightly to inform the man in green and orange of the pleasure aid rental, and directed him toward room Orion. The man grinned, said something that Yune couldn’t hear, and left the two people he was sharing drinks with to enjoy some...quality time. 

Yune got up to follow in his blind spot and kept himself out of view as the man opened the door and entered. His poor, unsuspecting friend would absolutely get the shock of his life. He waited five seconds, then cracked open the lock. 

The door slid open just in time for him to hear Zaf scream, “What the F--!”

“Who are you, and what the hell are you doing in my room?!”

Yune shut the door, jammed the lock, and set the noise reduction to ‘max.’ Before either man, and the poor blue-skinned O’alli woman could say a word, he hauled off with a strong right hook across the other man’s jaw. 

The man reeled to the side, only to meet with Yune’s fist rammed into his gut, and another to his face. 

He grabbed the tall human’s arm, twisted, and hurled him over his shoulder.

Yune hit the bed between Zaf and the pleasure aid. “Sorry, miss. S’cuse me. I need to borrow this.” He picked up a pillow, and flung it in his target’s face as a distraction, then swiped a sheer purple veil covering the woman’s breasts, coiled it like a whip, and launched himself at his foe. 

The woman scrambled to the back of the round bed and wrapped a blanket around herself in seconds. She screamed. However, the noise cancellation meant no one could hear it. And if they did, they’d assume the person inside was having a really, really amazing time. 

Yune ducked a punch thrown to his face, came back with an uppercut to the man’s jaw, then coiled the scarf around his neck. 

The man grabbed at the fabric, but Yune twisted it behind his neck and pulled. 

“You said you wanted in on my work,” Yune grunted to Zaf, keeping his choke hold, “now’s your chance.”

Zaf slid off the bed and crushed his fist into the man’s face. 

Yune kneed him in the back, let go of the scarf, and slammed him down onto the bed. 

The man gasped for breath, and was ready to headbutt the tall mik across the room, when the charge-up whine of a pulse pistol froze him in place. 

Yune glanced to Zaf in disgust. “They let you keep your gun?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I’m not you.”

“...Ok, that’s fair.” Yune turned his attention back to his target with one hand clamped around his neck, and the other clenched in a fist ready to turn his face into ground muvine beef. “You don’t know who I am, but--”

“You’re...Yune...Darrak,” the man licked at his bloody lip.

Yune paused, then tilted his head slightly in approval. “So you have heard of me. Great.  We can skip the introductions and get to the point. Where’s the Eye?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the man muttered.

“Please. I followed you here. I’ve been tracking you for a week, Avik. You stole the Eye of Shora from a bunch of monks on Feloria two weeks ago, and they want it back. So cough it up, and this won’t be the day you stop adding to your bar tab.”

“You gonna pay it?” Avik locked his purple eyes on both men, but mostly the barrel of the pulse pistol. 

“I...no, I mean, you’re gonna pay it. And your life is the...currency…” Yune exhaled. “That sounded better in my head.” He tightened his hold. “Tell me where it is, and my friend here won’t blast a hole through you and ruin these nice pretty sheets.” 

Avik smirked. “You want the Eye?”

“Um...were you not paying attention? Yes, I want the Eye.”

He chuckled. “Then you should have shot me first.” In a quick motion, Avik pulled a pocket pulse pistol from inside his coat and fired at his assailant. 

Yune ducked out of the way just in time, but the blue bolt sheared his cheek. 

Avik unlocked the door easily overcoming the jamming sequence, and barged out into the club. 

“How come he got to keep his gun?!” Yune balked. 

“Why didn’t you tell me you were after the Eye?” Zaf barked back

“Hah! I knew it! Your wife didn't kick you out, did she!” Yune ran after his target. 

“No, I left! She’s a noc!” Zaf fired off three shots at the retreating Masakan. 

People screamed and ran as the fire fight poured into the bar. 

Yune dove behind the counter to retrieve his pulse pistol. “You guys had a fight?” He powered up the gun and fired off red bolts at a setting higher than Bind: he set to stun. 

Avik and his two cronies, however, didn’t bother to care for lives and set theirs to kill. Blue bolts zipped by Yune behind the bar. 

“She hired a gardener,” Zaf hit one of the men in the chest knocking him back. “That’s a capitol offense!”

“On what grounds?!” Yune argued. He dodged into the room, flipped a table to its side and took cover behind it. “Hah! See what I did there? ‘Grounds’ ‘cause you’re a gardener--”

Zaf simply glared at him, and fired off a shot into his peripheral at a man firing at them from a booth. 

“Right,” Yune conceded. All Kes loved greenery.

“That was _my_ garden,” Zaf snarled. “And now someone else has their dirty paws all over my Blue Pippins.”

“I’m gonna assume those are flowers.”

“Rare ones, to be precise. What did you think I was talking about?”

Yune smirked.

Zaf rolled his eyes. “I swear, you’re eternally twelve.”

Avik burst through the door and down the hall toward the street. 

“Dammit.” Yune took off after him. He stopped at the doorway, spun, and fired at one of the wide hanging lights, severing the safety hook and cable. It crashed to the floor, blocking the exit. “Good luck with your wife and your Pippins!” 

“Darrak!” Zaf cursed. Friends or not, Yune had slowed him from going after the score by one expertly placed shot. 

Arik stumbled out into the street toward the nearest intersection, seeking an escape, and fast. A man parking his hoverbike outside a street cuisine shop became his unlucky target. He knocked him out, stole his ride, and blasted off down the street.

Yune quickly followed. He glanced to G’mork, who pointed right, and growled at him. 

“I know, I know. But this time it wasn’t my fault!” he defended. Before the big guy could introduce his face to the pavement, he ran to where he’d parked his hoverbike, unlocked it, and sped off after Arik. 

Arik fired back at his pursuer. Blue laser bolts hit signs, stands, and other vehicles. 

Yune returned fire, keeping his gun set to stun. 

The chase took them through the seedy underbelly of the capitol city, weaving through the maze of streets, and barely avoiding collisions at the intersections. 

A stray bolt from Arik struck an electronic billboard, showering sparks down onto those below. 

People screamed and scattered to avoid them, but Yune lowered his goggles and drove right through. One of the sparks singed his right sleeve. “This is my favorite jacket! Limited edition!” 

He angled his bike upward where the navigational controls connected to a sky lane, merging him in with traffic. However, he didn’t want to keep a steady pace with everyone else living their normal daily grind. He had a top thief to catch. Yune broke through the navigational computer’s hold, reverting it to manual - ignoring the blaring alarm of the system telling him he was nuts - and dove back down. He kept Arik’s bike in sight as he veered around buildings, and avoided near catastrophes with other vehicles heading up to join the sky lanes. 

The thief took a page from his pursuer’s book, and shot up into a higher lane. 

Both darted through traffic at a dangerously high speed, firing at each other. If they didn’t take this back to the surface soon, the Masakan police force would be on their tails in seconds. 

Yune piloted the bike with one hand expertly through traffic, changed the power level of his pulse pistol to max, took aim, and fired at Arik. 

The blue bolt whizzed between four cars and slammed into the rear engine of the bike. 

Arik abandoned his attempt to shoot holes through his Yune’s chest in favor of controlling the bike’s descent.  

Arik spiraled down away from the lane, leaving a smoke trail in his wake. 

Yune followed, closing in quickly. He balanced himself on the seat of the bike, waiting for the right moment, and leaped off into the air. His bike rammed into Arik’s a second after he hit the other, yanking him free of the vehicle. 

Both bikes crashed into the parking deck of a restaurant, destroying two cars that burst into parts and flames, and left a scorch mark on the concrete. 

The two men grappled in their free fall, clawing at each other’s faces, and throwing punches where they could. 

The ground rushed up to them as the wind roared in their ears. 

Arik’s face contorted in a scream of rage.

Yune tried to move his other hand to his belt, but Arik had it locked under his arm. Thinking fast, with seconds left before they would become a double smear on the street, he rammed the back of his right hand into Arik’s face, breaking his nose, and used that second to activate a personal suspension field. 

The two stopped five feet above the ground of a city park. Yune deactivated it and dropped to the patchy grass. Both men groaned from the sudden stop and impact. 

Yune got up first, hoised his foe by his jacket collar, “This is for my bike,” and cold cocked Arik across the face. “And my jacket. There’s only one guy that makes this, and now I gotta go back.”

Arik sprawled unconscious on the ground. 

Breathing hard from the fight and adrenaline, Yune took a second to reorient himself and searched Arik for the Eye of Shora. He found a small pouch within a pocket inside the other’s coat, and fished it out. Finally, the reward was his. He removed it from the back and held up his prize. The faceted ruby surface glinted in the city lights. It felt warm, and not due to body heat. It emitted a very soft hum that he found odd, but shrugged and returned it to the bag. He tucked it into his own jacket inner pocket. 

Something sharp pierced his neck. His hand instantly snapped up to protect the area. His vision blurred, the city spun, and he fell to his side. 

A pair of dark grey boots stepped up beside him. He lolled lazily to his back in curiosity to see who they belonged to. Someone else besides himself and Zaf were after the Eye, and he’d dropped his guard. How could he be so stupid? And yet when his eyes scanned up the body of the one who took him down, he grinned. 

A woman with amethyst eyes that could cut a man to pieces glared down at the scoundrel outlaw. Her long red hair draped to either side of her freckled face. “And that’s for my car.”

“Ah scret,” Yune chuckled in a drunken manner. “Marci. I didn’t know you were in town.”

“There’s a reason for that,” Her sharp retort sliced through the attempt at conviviality. 

“It’s been a long time,” his words slurred. 

“Save it. You have something I want.”

“You broke my heart and stole a five thousand mark chip from my pants...on the floor, and then tried to steal my ship. What else do you want?” Though he already had a very good idea.

“That was a small consolation for the crap I had to put up with from you. And it’s my ship.”

He grinned. “You abandoned her. She’s mine. Can’t we remember the fun times? No surface of the Horizon was safe - except the galley,” He struggled to move, but his limbs became heavier, like two full grown horned Harlbeast bulls had sat their large, furry, rumps on his body. “Good...times…”

“The more you struggle, the worse it gets,” she paused. “Please keep struggling.” 

“Aside from the obvious goods, I got nothing to offer. Just my apologies, and maybe a romantic date above the rings of Lasria Five?”

“After what you pulled on Enkai Prime?” she snarled, pressing her boot on his chest. “You’re lucky I don’t shoot you right now.”

He grinned upward. “This is a position I kind of miss.”

She pressed harder into his chest, causing him to grunt in pain. He grimaced as the pressure from her boot increased. “Ow, my ribs…”

“Give me the Eye.”

“You shot me. I can’t move. You screwed up,” he answered, or at least tried to. Now he felt like his tongue had swollen, though his breathing remained unhindered. His speech suffered as though someone had shoved rocks in his mouth. 

“What?”

“I said, you screwed up.”

She crouched next to him. “Seriously. Relax, or we won’t get anywhere.” She waited while his breathing evened out, and he forced himself to simply lie there without trying to escape or break the hold. His determination, drive, bravery, and foolish nature to jump into a threatening situation always amused her. 

Yune licked his lips when his regained his ability to speak and not sound like he’d been stung by a bee. “What did you hit me with?” 

She pulled the needle out of his neck. “It’s a drug created from the venom of a South Alosikian pit viper. Its numbing agent is extremely powerful, but short lived.” 

“Well, good job, because I can’t move to get the Eye.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wanted you to tell me where it is so I wouldn’t have to touch you again.” Marci knelt down and rifled through his pockets. Once she found the bag with the stone, she removed it and held the red gem in her hand. It was easily the size of a fist. “Thank you, Yune. This should cover the cost of a new car, very, very nicely. And maybe a small moon to call my own. And a new wardrobe--”

“Please, just kill me now.”

“Oh, and,” she leaned over him, “you will give me my ship back.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Not happening.”

“Fine.” She stood and turned to walk away. “I’ll just find where you parked it and steal it back.” She paused. “You weren’t really going to return this to the Ai Hiri, were you?”

“I’m not you.”

She smirked and tossed the gem lightly in the air to catch it. “Word has it that you delivered counterfeit frost to the Ba’ri. A bold move angering them.”

“Black Star scammed me, and tried to kill me. I explained this.”

“Yeah, they didn’t buy it. There’s a price on your head that this little baby would easily erase and thensome.” She pocketed the gem. “Because this is currently worth more than your life, I’m letting you go. But next time, the Night Wraiths won’t be so merciful. You’d better hide, or find a way to pay them back.” 

“Hello, Marci,” Zaf strolled into view with his pulse pistol aimed between her eyes as he walked forward, closing the gap between them. “I’ll be taking that, now.”

She raised her right arm bearing the dart gun and smirked. “Hm. Didn’t expect a family reunion. It’s been a while since we were all together. What, five years since the crew broke up? Selke’s not going to come flying out of the bushes, is she? Hm. Well, how’s the wife, Zaf?”

“A noc as usual, but after seeing you again, I’ll forgive her for the gardener mistake.”

“She hired a gardener?” Marci frowned. “Rude.”

“I know, right?” Yune laid still, waiting for the drug to wear off. His limbs were slowly returning to his control as long as he didn’t fight it. “Completely insensitive.”

“We should really catch up over hot chocolate,” Zaf gave a hint of nostalgia for the Terran drink the rest of the human worlds adopted from its discovery on that rock four hundred years ago, “but today is not that day. Hand over the Eye, and I’ll let you go.”

“Let me think about it.” She raised the dart gun, “Eat scret--”

Zaf fired a red bolt clean into her chest, stunning her. She dropped to the ground unconscious.

He took the stone from her hand and pocketed it. 

Arik groaned getting to his knees. “You people need serious help.”

“We’re aware of that,” Zaf aimed the pistol at his head. “You need to get going now.”

He got to his feet stumbled, and growled. Sore and humiliated, but a hundred percent done with Yune and Zaf, he staggered away, cursing their names, their families, and their future children. 

Yune sat up carefully. Apparently, Arik didn’t know what the Eye of Shora was made of. All the better, or there would be another shoot out. “I don’t suppose you’ll hand over the Eye, will ya?”

Zaf holstered the gun and shook his head. “Sorry, but my employers are insistent that it be returned to them.”

“You didn’t tell me the Ai Hiri hired you, too.”

“I was in the middle of work, and if you weren’t already involved from the start, then you wouldn’t be.”

He accepted Zaf’s help to his feet and leaned on the other to keep from collapsing, at least until the drug wore off completely. 

“I had a feeling you’d show up. When you did, I knew exactly why you were there.”

“So you let me do the dirty work and followed?”

Zaf shrugged. “It’s just business. But, I didn’t expect you to literally hand him to me.”

He pointed at him with a knowing glint of mischief. “I got you good, though.”

“Yeah, you did.”

Yune chuckled. “Do me a favor at least. Gimme a ride to the port.”

“I’ll do you one better. You’re not getting the Eye, but I did hear about a score that makes this one look like chump change.”

“You know what you’ve got? A couple million marks worth of pure amoradite, and you’re telling me about a score that’s bigger than that? Why aren’t you going after it yourself?”

“Because I’m not suicidal. However, you’re a crazy enough bastard to take this on.”

“Ok, I’ll bite.”

“You know that whole thing about those Terran children?”

“The One Thousand? Yeah, who doesn’t? It’s all I’ve heard people talk about for the past year,” he didn’t bother hiding his annoyance at how everyone was enamored of these kids, and how many within the outlaw circuit thought they could buy better lives by kidnapping and selling one of them.

“Remember the fifty that were brought here?”

“Yeah. They were rescued and scattered. No one knows where they are now except the Chancellor.”

“The ones who orchestrated their kidnapping were Senators Runell and Degull. Degull was executed for high treason two months ago…”

“I heard.”

“But Runell scurried away down a meep hole into hiding like the scumroach he is.”

Yune began to walk more confidently on his own. “You’d better be getting to the ‘I’m gonna be rich’ part.”

Zaf stopped. “I have a lead on where that hole may be.”

Yune thought about it. If he could bring in Senator Runell, he would be considered a hero for the capture of the man who put the galaxy’s hope of freedom into jeopardy. Such a bounty would gain him high favor with Chancellor Urza, he could have his records completely expunged, and the bounty would result in a massive, absolute unit of a payout. He could pay off his debt, shine up his ship, and be a rich man with ultimate freedom. “How sure is your source?”

Zaf couldn’t stop the grin from taking over, and he laughed. “I knew it! You’re going for it!”

“I want to know how sure your source is first before I go knocking on Regent doors.”

“He heard it from his sister’s cousin who works at a bakery downtown, who heard it from a customer, who said the housekeeper of a friend of his was on a cleaning crew to clean up Degull’s estate, and she found an open datadot on his desk that was unlocked with the name and location on it. Degull left it on when he ran.”

Yune simply stared. “Okay… my question still stands.”

Zaf regarded him seriously. “Eighty percent.”

Yune pondered those odds, pitting them up against previous jobs, and his history with Zaf. The Kes might be softies for flora and fauna, but his friend had rarely steered him wrong. “That’s enough to check it out at least.”

“If anyone can find this rimrat, it’s you.”

“Yeah, true.”

“I’ll send the details to the Horizon.”

“If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just steal the Eye back from you and collect my reward.”

Zaf squeezed his friend’s shoulder painfully, eliciting a small yelp from the other. “Not likely.”

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #8: If you’re wondering why they have hot chocolate in this galaxy, the Masaki, Kes, and Mik are human space faring species that have visited earth countless times due to their ease of blending in, and brought stuff back to their home planets, including chocolate and coffee. :) Also, where do you think purple eyes in humanity comes from? Purple eyes are a Masakan trait, and extremely rare on Earth. Undoubtedly, there were some Masaki, Kes, and Mik who fell in love with a Terran, had children, and perhaps stayed to live the simple life.


	9. The Secret of Strafsend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yune checks out Zaf's information on the traitorous Senator Runell's whereabouts, but discovers something he hadn't counted on.

###  ****

((Extremely rough, rough, really rough sketch of the _Horizon_.))

**\------------------------------------**

###  **Chapter 9**

 

_Two days later..._

_Masaka. Somewhere among the snowy crags of the Mosskiri mountain range..._

Yune’s ship, the _Horizon_ , slowly scouted around the specified radius within the remote Mosskiri mountains. Sharp peaks speared into the sky, while mall green valleys nestled at their bases. Their sides told the stories of ages-old glaciers that carved paths through the ancient range, creating the many lakes pockmarking the landscape. 

The Masakan government left this area in its virgin state to preserve its beauty, with understanding of its necessity for life to thrive. Pockets of non industrialized areas existed all over the planet. Although the Masaki have been a space faring people for twenty-five hundred years, they knew different cultures on their world chose to remain planet-bound, only changing gradually to adapt. If they existed in these mountains, they kept themselves hidden. 

Either way, getting lost in this treacherous landscape meant death if one didn’t know how to survive off the land. 

The sun’s rays pierced through dark snow clouds trailing the last of a heavy squall on the winds. Flecks of snow drifted in Yune’s viewport. He studied his sensors for signs of any electromagnetic activity. If the Regents had a base hidden away up here, they would need to power it somehow. And if he knew them the way he did, they wouldn’t be using two sticks to light a fire. The Regents, and especially the highest heads of the government, couldn’t live without their creature comforts. 

He circled the outside of the zone carefully, turning up his scanner to its most sensitive level to pick up even the traces of an active ephypsan core -- unless his target was heavily shielded.

Four hours into searching, a red ‘ping’ illuminated on the topographic map in a highland flat area stretched between two mountains. It formed a raised flatland- a rare geographic formation from ancient riverbeds filled with lava. Earthquakes had caused the mountains to rise over millions of years, trapping these ‘loft valleys’ in rings of rock. Boulders had loosed from the peaks and tumbled down to pepper the edges of the valley.

That ping meant an energy source. And an energy source meant people. If they were the Regents looking to hide something, they’d be keeping their eyes on the skies for any incoming unwanted visitors. Yune groaned. He would have to get out and walk. 

He set the old ship down in an adjacent loft valley behind one of the twin peaks, and activated a scrambler. Anyone out on patrol would see a rock on their sensors instead of a ship. He set the power levels to die down completely as soon as he was clear, zipped up his jacket, put on cold weather gloves, lowered his goggles, and wrapped a cloth around his face. 

The Horizon wasn’t so much a wide ship as she was chunky. In all honesty, her design looked like someone pressed down the sides of a coin, stretched it out slightly at both ends, cut off the back for the engines, housed a small two seater escape pod locked within a cubby space on the port side, an airlock ring at the starboard side, and pulled the front out just enough to make a blunt but noticeable nose. The bridge itself sat on the second deck with a wide viewport surrounding the pilot and copilot seats for a panoramic view. Four people could sit in it comfortably, but it didn’t have much in the way of walking room. The crew just needed to get in, sit down, and do their jobs. The smaller third deck’s observation lounge ahead of the four individual crew quarters and small galley sported an impressive forward view behind that. 

The Mikran Mercury class light freighter’s boxy-cut, yet pulled out rounded shape was supposed to resemble a Mikran giant wood moth with its wings folded. It also kept the ship from being thick despite having three decks. 

The engine placements mirrored the tips of the wings for the four major boosters, and the sublight engines inset as a line of lit vertical rectangles between them. The ship had ram (forward), wake (aft), nadir (deck down), and zenith (deck up) thrusters for atmospheric maneuvering. The nadir and zenith usually stayed covered by protective hull plating while in space. The whole back would light up blue, and give a burst of cerulean light from the FTL drive. The only time the small rectangular opening located just beneath the cockpit would flare is when it would send out a pulse to open a jump rift.  She wasn’t much to look at, but she was reliable - usually - nimble, and fast for an old girl that’s seen some interesting days. 

The Mik might be master engineers, but they loved melding functionality with livable areas and a few well placed windows to appreciate their first love: space.

The Horizon, however, had endured multiple upgrades, modifications, and as such, looked cobbled together. Upon first glance, one might lose faith in its ability to function, but Yune kept her running like a slick Enkai show cruiser. Parts rarely failed on her. ... rarely.

He descended the ramp from the cargo hold in the center of the ship into the snow, and instantly regretted his decision to come here. “This had better be worth it,” he grumbled to himself. He shivered. “It’s colder than tits out here.” The ramp closed as he hiked around the mountain toward the loft valley.

It took him an hour to make the trek through knee deep snow and over jagged rocks. Were this not at the end of winter, the loft valley would be rich with verdant grasses, colorful flowers, and high altitude wildlife. It would be a stunning picturesque panoramic view. 

However, all Yune saw was a flat landscape of snow. 

That’s it.

Snow. 

Cold, flakey, and pointless. 

He hated snow. It got in his shoes and made his socks wet. Talk about a miserable existence. The area he grew up in on Mikra was mostly dirt and rocks, but had grassy hills and trees in scattered spots between cities. It was warmer, and known for some wicked seasonal storms. At this moment, he’d gladly trade in this geographical nightmare for a thunderstorm over his home valley.

The map on his datadot continued to ping insistently that the energy source was in this valley. He smacked it a couple of times to make sure it wasn’t malfunctioning, but still it persisted. 

Going along with it, Yune settled at the edge of a boulder, and scanned the valley. Snow curled up from tiny eddies, but other than that, it was barren. However the clear signature emitted by an Ephypsan core now burned like a flame on the map. 

There was definitely something here, be it of Regent origin or not. Whoever it was didn’t bother to shield it. Likely it was just a bunch of academic nerds studying the Mosskiri ecosystem and freezing their bits off in the process. Shielding from outside detection wouldn’t be necessary.

The snowfall finally ceased. 

A minute later, a gaiser of air erupted from the center of the valley, blasting the snow in a wide arc of powder upward into the sky. 

Yune shielded himself from the sudden brief blizzard until it died down, and the valley was once again calm. That was odd. His scanner didn’t pick up a hydrothermal vent. These mountains were supposed to be comprised of a massive cluster of dead and dormant volcanoes.

The cleared center of the valley shimmered from an obtuse irradesteel dome wide enough for a personal space yacht to land in with room to spare. 

His curiosity overcame any urge to run if he was spotted by anyone. He maneuvered as close to the edge as he could get for a detailed, birds-eye look. 

He tapped at the right edge of his goggle frames, activating a zoom function. 

The dome covered a man-made, perfectly round sunken area two levels deep carved into the ground. Fifty windows, each with a closed door next to it, encircled a painstakingly kept emerald green lawn edged with a few flower beds. The dome had cleared off the snow so anyone inside the habitat bubble could view the open sky. It was as though they had trapped spring in a bottle. It held a stark difference between the sterile interior and the rough world beyond. By the smooth white design, Yune could tell immediately that this was a Regent facility.

And that meant Zaf’s contact was right. Runell would be in this underground compound cowering in a corner somewhere, out in the farthest reaches of Masaka’s ‘impossible-to-find-anything-here’ mountain range. He grinned. All he had to do now was get an idea of the layout, find a way in, and retrieve Runell. Then a hefty reward and a life of total freedom would be his. 

As if in answer to his problem, the rock face of the mountain to the right of his location suddenly pulled upward. Seconds later, a personal transport shot out of the lit interior beyond the stealth door. It buzzed quickly over the center of the loft valley and took off out of sight. 

The wide-mouthed door lazily began to close. 

Going in that way would be suicide. Any Regent officers inside would shoot him first and throw away any questions. No, he would do this the smart way, with stealth and silence through a back door.

A flash of blue light from within the dome caught in his peripheral, and snared his curiosity. He zoomed in on the pocket of sunshine carved into the snow. 

Two small people dressed in white were running in sporadic patterns throwing a glowing blue sphere back and forth. He zoomed in further, and his jaw slacked. 

They were children. A boy and a girl in identical clean, white clothing tossed a sapphire blue glowing orb to one another, catching it with their bare hands, and returning it. Whenever one of them missed, the ball hit the ground and burst into a plume of light. 

He watched the boy smile slightly and say something to the girl, though his lips moved in a pattern he couldn’t comprehend. They were speaking a different language. Without any audio, he had no way for his translator to decipher it, so lip-reading was out of the question. 

The boy held out both hands, though wobbled slightly like he was sleep walking, shook his head, and focused. Another palm-sized sphere formed out of thin air. He tossed it easily to the girl, who caught it, and the game began again. 

 Yune huffed. “A zephyr ball,” he smirked. It was a popular toy on Masaka among children. If they missed, it would dissipate on the ground in a shower of harmless glittering sparks, or if they didn’t catch it on the diode on their hands, it would give them a light tingling zap like carpet shock. He didn’t remember the energy orb creating a burst of light like that, though. 

He watched them for a moment longer. They moved like they knew where the other would throw it. The girl caught the orb, spun around, and launched it high into the air. It came back down into the boy’s hands where he seamlessly tossed it around behind his back, and threw it back to her. The orb seemed to stick to them. 

They were probably children of the Regents. However, he found it odd that they weren’t wearing normal clothing, and he didn’t see the zephyr ball diodes on their palms. Plus, they were barefoot.

Something about this didn’t feel right. 

Yune settled in for a chilly reconnaissance mission and watched. 

Several minutes later, the children suddenly stopped playing, and turned as if someone had called their attention. They seemed to stumble as they walked backward, though he noticed the boy kept ahold of the girl’s hand. 

Yune was about to dismiss it when the children stopped. The boy held his hand palm out and widened his stance. He yelled something unheard and kept himself in front of the girl. It was very much a defensive ‘don’t come near me’ posture.

The girl placed her hand on his shoulder, then held up her own palm the same way. 

In the next second, they dropped to the ground. Two adults ran into view, scooped up the kids, their limbs dangling limply, and carried them out of sight in opposing directions. 

Yune’s eyes narrowed. That wasn’t right on any planet. They were attacked in the middle of playtime, and hadn’t visually misbehaved. Those weren’t children of scientists or staff. They were captives. 

That settled it. He would find Runell and force him to explain what the hell was going on here.

He made it back to his ship, powered it up on ambient levels, and made a call. 

If he was going to get into an underground facility, get Runell and answers, and get out alive, he would need backup, and a plan. 

And he knew just the Felorian to call for both. 

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #9: Masaka is larger than Earth by 1%. The rotation and orbit around the sun is longer, which is why GST (galactic standard time) is based on their time frame. It has a weather control system to keep the various regions in a state of normality and predictability specific to those areas. i.e. no long, harsher-than-usual winters, no tornadoes within populated area, and no droughts. They let nature take its course, only intervening when conditions become erratic, unstable, or endanger the populous. They are currently working to implant tectonic regulation technology to predict and/or decrease the number of earthquakes in volatile regions. The Mosskiri mountains are a dormant, high elevation, volcanic system.


	10. Best Laid Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yune Darrak enlists the help of an old friend, a felorian named Selke Kellnaris, to break into the secret rogue Regent facility in the Strafsend loft valley, kidnap Senator Runell, and collect the reward for turning in the galaxy's most wanted criminal to the Regents

((art of Selke Kellnaris commissioned from Fractured Clarity - tumblr. - https://fracturedclarity.tumblr.com/ ))

###  **Chapter 10**

 

_Three days later..._

 

“Are you sure this is going to work?” 

“You wanted a way in,” A fit felorian woman a few inches shorter than Yune pulled her wavy light brown hair back in a low ponytail.

“They’re going to see right through this.” Yune pulled up the side zipper of the Regent officer uniform and tugged at the waist-length hem. It was slightly too short. The ensign it originally belonged to lay stripped to his underwear unconscious on the floor. 

“Not if we’re careful.”

“We’re basically walking through the front door.” 

“Exactly. They won’t expect anyone to be that ballsy.”

“We could find a back entrance and sneak in that way. All Regent facilities have one. I’m willing to bet Runell has a meep trail leading straight to an escape shuttle. We find it and sneaky-sneak our way in.” 

“And then what? The place is going to be crawling with Regents protecting his slimy carcas. We need to get in, move around freely, and get out.” She gave him a surreptitious look. “No offense, but you’re as stealthy as a boulder falling off a mountain.”

“Offense; taken.” He dragged the former uniform owner by one hand to a supply storage room where a second half naked companion laid sprawled on his stomach in the same situation, and locked the door. “Have you ever watched ‘Three Moons to Midnight?” 

“That’s a detective show for children,” she held up the boots from the officer she had knocked out with a well-placed stun blast to his chest, scrunched up her nose in disgust, and tossed them over her shoulder. The rest of the uniform fit to her frame well enough to allow for freedom of movement. 

“It has great plot and character development,” he defended. “This is just like the last episode of season two when they rescued Jinn. I cried.”

“Well, you watch a Terran cartoon about a talking dog and a bunch of kids solving crimes, so I shouldn’t be surprised by anything you watch. You brought back so many bizarre habits since your trip to Terra.”

He shrugged and sent her a finger gun of confidence.

“Case in point,” she headed to the cockpit of the stolen transport ship. “You’d think after nine years, you’d stop doing that.” Selke slid easily into the copilot’s seat, while Yune sat in the pilot’s. As eccentric as he was, she couldn't deny that her long-time friend was one of the best flyers she’d ever met. 

“I’ll take my finger guns to the grave,” he started up the pre-flight sequence.

“If this fails, that’ll happen sooner than you think.” She checked the data within the log. Just as the docking port’s computer specified, this ship was scheduled to bring supplies to the Regent facility called Strafsend. She uploaded their profile photos to replace those of the original two-man crew. “You remember your training, right?”

“I thought you had faith in me,” he smiled at her. “Besides, if I didn’t, you’d never let me live it down.”

She leaned back in her seat. “I’ll make sure you don’t die just for that reason.” 

“Ha ha,” he mocked, yet the idea of adding another notch to her belt of ‘Yune’s embarrassing moments’ made him more determined than ever to come out victorious. Runell had better be there, or else. 

Yune smoothly used the ship’s thrusters to clear docking bay five in Donathakiri - the closest civilized town to the Mosskiri mountains - and angled the ship leisurely toward the wilds. 

Selke waited until the Strafsend loft valley came into range on the sensors. She activated the communications array to signal the facility, and read back the ship’s information. “Strafsend, this is the transport vessel, Lockrium, requesting permission to land.”

A clear male voice responded. “Transport vessel, Lockrium, transmit your clearance code.”

“Acknowledged. Transmitting now.”

Tense seconds passed, and then… “Transmission code confirmed, Lokrium. You are cleared to land.”

“Copy, that.” 

Yune exhaled a breath he hadn’t been aware he was holding. 

“Having second thoughts?” Selke asked. 

“No. Not with you lording this over me already. I can see the wheels turning in your head. You’re figuring out how to spin anything that goes wrong to your advantage.”

She became serious. “Going after bounties, and stealing relics is one thing. Breaking into a secret Regent base on their home planet on the assumption that the galaxy’s most wanted criminal is hiding in it is on a whole new level. If this works…”

“We’ll be rich. And we’ll be heroes, free to go anywhere and do anything we want,” he grinned.  

“And the kids you were talking about?”

“We’ll find out what’s going on, and report it to the Federation. This is Runell’s pet. Chancellor Urza will send someone to shut this place down and get those kids home.”

Children were to be left out of hostile situations and protected. He loathed anyone who dealt in child slavery, trafficing, or harming them in any way. He wasn’t good with them by any means, but he had his code of ethics. 

The ship landed gracefully inside the landing bay cavern carved into the mountain and the door closed behind them.

“So, we get in, grab Runell, get the low dish on those kids, and get back to the Horizon.”

Selke understood why he named his beat up old Mercury class Mikran ship the Horizon. He was always chasing after something - women, a bounty, a rumored priceless treasure - always looking for the next adventure. He thought the name was a genius idea. She just thought it was a mystery as to how he kept his ship space-worthy to begin with. Then again, the Mik were always more comfortable in space surrounded by their tech than on solid ground.

The two left the ship, and Selke handed the manifest datadot over to the officer in charge of double checking the inventory. 

Yune calmly walked away to leave his companion to deal with ‘business,’ and gave a slight wave to the officer at the door, who nodded back and let him pass. 

A small spark of excitement built up within his chest. For this mission, he tucked away the label of explorer, adventurer, and outlaw, and became Ensign Darrak, Regent officer. 

He waited until the side hall he entered was clear. Taking his chance, he checked an office door for the lock’s difficulty level - normal-, cracked it, and casually ducked inside. Evidently, they didn’t think any intruders would get this far. “I’m in,” he spoke into the com behind his right ear. “Gimme two minutes and I can pinpoint Runell’s location.”

Yune typed quickly at a touch screen console, closing the screen saver of fuzzy long-eared zabbits hopping through a field of wildflowers. It instantly brought up the security protocols. He broke through them one by one until he reached a map. There, he scanned through the personnel logs. 

Senator Runell’s name lit up to him like a burning tree in the middle of a dark forest. “Got him. His quarters are on level four. And I was right. There’s a back door with an unguarded shuttle. Convenient.”

Selke spoke softly. “Keep it in mind, just in case. You have fifteen minutes to get to the yard. I’ll do what I can from here to stall for time,” She eyed the back of the men walking down the ship’s ramp with a hover pallet of crates. 

“I’ll only need ten,” his voice came back. 

He closed the search results, but paused at an encrypted file entitled, ‘The Altair Project.’ “Top secret, huh? Don’t mind if I do.” Curious to know what Runell was hiding, he opened it. 

Headshots of the two children from earlier topped the file, along with other photos showing up periodically amid the text. He scrolled through it without reading so he could scan it into his ship’s computer and look at it in detail later. Whatever it was might be worth some pretty money to someone. 

The door’s lock disengaged. 

He hadn’t reached the end of the file.

Panicked, he closed down everything, brought up the screen-saving frollicking zabbits, and hurried to the back into recessed area behind a counter. He ducked down out of sight. 

A man and a woman lip-locked with their hands groping at each other’s cream and blue laboratory uniforms poured into the room and shut the door. 

Yune listened to the lovers tryst as they knocked a couple of canisters from the desk onto the floor in their lust. Heavy breathing, and the shuffle of fabric that he knew was someone’s shirt falling to the floor joined the sounds. As long as they didn’t need anything from the supply area, he would get a free audio show. He cursed his contact lenses for only recording visual data and not audio.  

Still, as fun as it was to listen to the sounds of a secret happy-time-galore rendezvous , he was on a tight schedule. 

The universe answered his silent cry for the two get it over with already. 

The door opened again, forcing the lovers to pretend nothing had happened. 

Nera and Doctor Barakan stood in the doorway. “What is this? Doctor Malarei? Doctor Lysand?”

Doctor Malarei put her shirt back on and smoothed down the fabric. “Administrator, I can explain--”

“Save it,” she scolded. “Get. Out,” she paused. “Now.”

The two embarrassed scientists quickly vacated the room.

Yune’s fight-or-flight reaction kicked into gear, but he kept still. He missed the happy-time couple already. 

Nera locked the door with a high security code. “We need to go into phase six immediately.”

“Absolutely not. This is their rest day,” Doctor Barakan argued. “They are taking to the treatments far more easily than an adult - as we speculated -, but the inclusion process is still strenuous on their bodies.”

“I’m aware of that.”

“If this is going to work at maximum efficiency, we cannot rush the phrases. The soonest I can promise them ready to accept phase six is by the end of next week.”

“Keeping them mildly sedated is slowing us down. Take them off the drug.”

“And risk the lives of my staff? Not until they trust me. They’re still exhibiting signs of rebellion. You remember what happened a month ago at the core.”

“Doctor Solen was badly injured, Yes I remember.” Everyone present for the Ephypsan Particle Endurance test would never forget the untamed power that exploded from both subjects after prolonged exposure to the facility’s power core. The radiation didn’t harm the subjects, but their reaction to being overcharged left the scientist in the protective suit in the chamber with them covered in burns. He was still undergoing dermal regeneration treatments in the capital city.

“We can’t take them off the capathacin until they have control.”

Nera bore her urgency into her words. “I just received a call from Chancellor Urza. The Xox were spotted in the Vomora cluster in the Kestra system. You know; our neighbors. She wants the inclusion process completed immediately so their training can begin. If the Xox enter our system, she will have no choice but to deploy the fleet and keep them away from Masaka.”

“The Xox haven’t attempted an attack on Masaka in twenty years. I will  _ not  _ have years of my research destroyed on account of the Chancellor’s fear.”

Nera snapped back with just as much vice. “I’ll have you remember Degull was killed to ensure the Altair Project continued as planned. Runell willingly became a wanted criminal across the galaxy just to preserve this hope and your work. The Chancellor agreed to the use of the children on the Morning Star in lieu of the lives of fifty Masakans. This was not an easy choice for her to make. The two we have here are invaluable. Anything that happens is her call. Now,” Nera’s voice lowered to a powerful snarl, ”Two-Twelve and Two-Forty-Six must start their training immediately.”

“We’ve been at war for two thousand years. She can wait two weeks.”

Administrator Nera stared him down. “Begin phase six now, Doctor, or I will execute the order for you.”

If their eyes could burn lasers, both would be piles of ash on the floor. 

He grumbled and pressed a com button on the desk computer. “This is Doctor Barakan. Are the children in the Inclusion chamber?”

“Yes, doctor,” he gained a reply from a male scientist. “Analysis of phase five is in the green. So far there are no issues. We were about to let them go back to their rooms.”

“Begin phase six immediately.”

“What? But, they’re still recovering. Is it wise to--” a confused female voice took over and replied.

“Don’t argue with me, Doctor Tinen. Begin the final phase without me. I’ll be there shortly.”

A concerned, “Yes, Doctor,” was his only reply. 

He faced Nera. “If this results in the death of either of those children, then the Altair Project is as good as scrapped. We have one shot at this. Phase six means we won’t get a second chance.”

She paused. “You’re telling me you used every ounce of Altair resources we have?”

“You’re not the only one who’s been pressured by Chancellor Urza,” he took a deep breath. “With only two to carry out the plan, she wants them as effective as possible.”

“I see,” Nera mused. He’d taken what should have been distributed fifty ways and split it in half. “I’ve been watching them. They’re remarkable, strong-willed, but highly dependent on each other.”

“Yes. That dependency has already proven to be a problem.”

“On the contrary. They will survive phase six, because both will ensure the other lives.”

“I hope you’re right,” Doctor Barakan snarled, “for the sake of us all.”

Their conversation ended, and the two left the private office. 

Yune processed everything he’d heard. This wasn’t just a hidey-hole for Senator Runell. It was a scientific research facility, and those children were the experimental mice. 

He peeked around the corner, insured it was safe, and moved back to the computer. He opened up the map long enough to find the inclusion room on level three - one level above Runell. “Dammit.” This bounty hunt mission just became more complicated. He called Selke. “Hey, you’re gonna love this one, but funny thing just happened: we have a change of plans.”

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #10: Only 60% of the galaxy has been charted. 
> 
> Yune went to Earth in Terran year 1978 to hide from a bounty hunter chasing him down for snagging an ancient artifact first and selling it to a collector for a brick load of cash. To let the team get away, they split up and he went to the pre-FTL human world to live in Los Angeles. He met up with the old team two Terran months later, but while he was there, he adopted a few Earth customs, had fun with some of the looser ladies, and developed a love of funk music. He picked up a collection of records that he was able to record into the ship's computer. For a while after he left Earth, it wasn't uncommon to hear The Commodores and other groups playing on the bridge of the Horizon.
> 
> He still has his bell bottoms and platform shoes.
> 
> The first time he went to Earth, he pretended to be mute until he picked up basic phrases in English. His Mikran dialect stuck out, but no one could place where he was from. 
> 
> He went back in Earth year 1988 for a week to see how things were going with the music, to take a break, and to work through a personal crisis. He took a smaller ship, because at that time, the Horizon was still being used by the whole team. They didn't split up until 1994.


	11. The Rescue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle to rescue Will and Terra from the Regent facility in the loft valley of Strafsend ensues.

###  **Chapter 11**

 

“Excuse you?” Selke hissed as she turned away to not be heard by anyone. “There is no ‘change of plans’ here.”

“There is now. I’ll be waiting for my ride on the front lawn in ten minutes. Be ready for anything,” Yune hung up and left the room, but not before planting a small explosive device the size of two fingers beneath the desk. He hoped the lovers wouldn’t come back, because this room would soon be a hot spot in more ways than one. 

“Darrak!” she growled softly. “If he dies, I’ll kill him.” 

Yune tailed a group to an elevator and blended in with the officers. No conversation passed between them. Once the elevator opened at level three, he casually left into the hall and straightened his stollen uniform. If anyone on this floor were to see him, he’d simply appear as an officer on his rounds. 

The Inclusion room resided on the other side of the donut-shaped underground compound. Yune moved as quickly and casually as he could along the obtuse curved hall, stopping once at a wall panel to check the status of the Lockrium.

The door to the Inclusion room was locked by a keycard, and a code that wouldn’t take him long to crack, but long enough to bring about suspicion. He could place an EM node at the door to fry the circuits, but he would need that tool to get out. 

Instead, his opportunity arrived in the form of a distracted scientist with glasses over his nose, staring intently at a datapad as he walked toward the room. 

“Hey, just the man I needed to see!” Yune draped his arm convivial over the man’s shoulder, noting the name from his badge. “Someone over here told me to come find you. Said they had the final results for some kind of project you two were working on?”

“Who are you?”

“Just an errand boy,” Yune lead him into a nearby hall and opened the closest door.

“This is a storage roo--” 

Yune’s fist slammed across the other’s face, knocking him into the room. At the same time, he followed through, and closed the door. “Yup, it is.” Yune removed the magnetic badge and saluted the unconscious victim. “Thank you,” he read the badge, “Jak Beezle.”

He left Jak to the company of spare lab equipment and bins, and returned to the hall. A brief show of the card in front of the control panel, a quick entering of the code, and the door to the Inclusion room opened. “Never write your password on the back of anything,” he mumbled the praise of Jak’s stupidity allowing him, the infiltrator, seamless entry.

He expected to find a standard laboratory with tables covered in beakers, computer screens, and boxy equipment with blinking lights running samples through a centrifuge, or something science-y. 

Instead, the first area was two steps above the main room. It was for observation of the events beyond the a clear protective partition. A half-full mug sat abandoned on a desk, like the owner had rushed off to use the bathroom in an emergency. The liquid inside was still hot. 

The area beyond the partition, however, gave him chills. 

It was easily the bastard brother of a twisted hospital surgical room.

The boy, dressed in a white long sleeved tunic and matching pants, lay on a bed with his hands and bare feet secured to the frame by leather belts. A golden holographic representation of his body drifted over him like a ghost. Clear terminals angled upward from the sides of the bed like a railing that reflected scrolls of information. A suspension field formed by six slim, joined arms kept his head immobilized even as he twitched and writhed. Every time he moved, points of blue lit up all over the hologram. He tried to cry out, but the sound was weak. They had him heavily sedated. 

Yune looked at the desk monitor where an image of a double helix lazily spun. Half of the code lit up blue, and the other half remained gold. A gold portion flared and another notch in the image lost to the blue. 

“Heart rate?” Doctor Barakan entered from another room adjacent to this one. For a quick second, the girl was visible on a bed in a twin state. 

“Erratic,” The woman from the Happy Time Couple answered. “Two-Forty-Six is dangerously close to cardiac arrest. Readings from Two-Twelve are identical. We have to stop.”

“We have our orders,” he said. “Keep going.”

No one noticed the fake ensign watching from the observation area. They were all intently focused on their subjects. He ground his teeth together. By the way they spoke, they had the power to end this at any time, so it wasn’t a life-saving procedure. This was an experiment being conducted on innocent children. 

Time to make sure they remembered him for the rest of their lives. “I’d listen to the woman if I were you,” he stood in the archway leading down to the examination room with his pulse pistol leveled at Doctor Barakan’s head. He’d kept his favorite gun tucked away at the nape of his back beneath his clothes, and was grateful the officers here didn’t pat him down. Either they didn’t care, or they were so confident in the remote location of this facility that no one would ever find it, let alone get inside, that they simply didn’t bother. “Shut it down now, or I blast everything in this room into shrapnel.”

“Who the hell are you?” Doctor Barakan demanded. “Call security!”

Doctor Malarei dove toward a control terminal, but instead of doing as she was ordered, she picked dumped the tools off a metal tray, and slammed it upside the doctor’s head with a battle cry. 

Doctor Barakan stumbled into the bed. Another hit knocked him to the floor. 

She breathed hard and pushed her brown hair out of her eyes. “I’ve wanted to do that for six months.”

“Um...great?” Yune hadn’t anticipated any betrayers in the group, but he wasn’t going to ignore outside help. He noticed the other three scientists in the room. One of them held up her hands in surrender while another man rushed him from the right. Yune fired off a red laser bolt into his shoulder, knocking him to the floor. He sent another stun blast into the other’s chest, leaving himself and Doctor Malarei. “Help me shut this thing down.”

She typed at the console. “I assume Captain Linell sent you,” she asked. 

“Yeah,” he lied. Now wasn’t the time to say ‘Hey, I’m really here for your boss, so if you could hand him over, that would be great.’

“Good. She got my message. Whatever you do, do not take the children to the capitol. Get them off this planet.”

He continued the ruse. “I have the rendezvous coordinates from the captain.”

The hologram above the boy suddenly brightened and he screamed. A needle pulled out of the back of his neck. 

“What?” Doctor Malarei rushed to another terminal. “They activated it from the other room,” Her face whitened. “Oh god...They used all of it at once. No… No..no, no, no, this will kill them.” 

“What do you mean all of it? All of what?”

“Every sample we had. They just injected both children with everything. That should have been done in four treatments over the next week.” 

“Get him out of that thing.”

She typed frantically. “I can’t shut it down.

Yune fired four blue blasts into the console, killing the system in a shower of sparks. The hologram over the boy’s body fizzled out and the sustaining field around his head deactivated. 

The boy continued to writhe.

Doctor Malarei’s fists tightened. “We’re too late. The process has already begun. Whether they survive it is up to them, now,” she lamented. 

Yune rushed over, removed the straps keeping the boy immobilized, and lifted him into a sitting position, Will’s entire body spasmed in his arms. “Easy, kiddo. I’m getting you out of here.”

“T-T-…” Will tried to say Terra’s name. 

“What?”

Doctor Malarei clarified. “His companion. If you’re going to get them out, you need to move now.”

“And you are…?”

“Doctor Malarei,” she rested her palm gently on Will’s face. “A friend.” 

Yune accepted it. He left the boy in her care and burst into the other room. Three stun shots from his pulse pistol took care of the scientists therein, and he returned with the girl in his arms. 

Doctor Malarei quickly worked at a nearby computer. “I’ve disabled the security in this section. The doors should allow access to anyone for the next few minutes before they figure it out.” 

He was impressed. “Thanks. Here,” he handed Terra off to her, and picked up Will. 

The rogue doctor removed a vile and a small metal cylinder from a drawer, pulled the liquid from the vile into the injector, and pressed it against the necks of both children. “This will counteract the sedative, but it’ll take a few moments to take effect.” She moved ahead to open the Inclusion chamber’s main door and scanned the hall. “No one’s been alerted yet. I can get you to the elevator, but from there, you’re on your own.”

He followed her down the long curving hall. “You’re going to face the Regents after beaning your boss in the noggin’ with a tray?”

“Yes.”

Her resolute, abrupt answer threw him off guard. 

“The lives of these two far outweigh my own, and everyone’s here. Including yours.” She reached the elevator and pushed the button. “Captain Linell knows of their importance. Make sure they get to her.”

“Give me the girl,” Yune set Will on his feet. The boy wobbled drunkenly, wrapping his arms around his stomach. He threw up. 

Yune scrunched up his nose. “Uch.” 

She handed Terra over and used the edge of her lab coat to wipe off Will’s mouth. He barely acknowledged it. “They’re in the process of the final phase. We don’t know how this is going to affect them. Whatever you do, do not separate them until the phase is complete. It is critical they remain together.” 

She pulled out a pen-sized injector cylinder from her pocket. The scientists closely involved with the children carried them as a safety precaution. “Take this. It’s a sedative called Capathacin. It’s the most effective drug we have that works on them. This contains six doses. Use one dose each. Put them back to sleep once you get them out so they can withstand the phase. Being completely aware for this is like torture. Head up to level two, rooms twenty-four and twenty-five. I’ll cause a distraction.”

“Don’t worry about that,” he took both girl and sedative. “I’ve got it covered right about...Now.”

Nothing.

He sighed. “I really need to work on my timing.”

A massive explosion ripped through the vacant office on the first floor. The concussion wave rattled the facility. That should pull most of the Regent officers up to that level to investigate the commotion. 

He pointed upward. “There it is.”

The two kids whimpered in fear and confusion. 

Yune took aim at her chest with his pulse pistol, holding Terra in his other arm. “Thanks for your help, Doctor Malarei,” he tried to convey his need to save her from punishment by adding her to his trail of stun victims so she wouldn’t be singled out as aiding the intruder.

She didn’t run or put up a fight. In fact, she seemed to understand his actions. “Take care of them. Give me your word they will be safe.”

He nodded once, “You have my word.” He promised, then pulled the trigger. 

Doctor Janna Malarei dropped to the floor unconscious. 

“Janna?” Will slurred. He looked up at the tall man who’d shot their teacher, and debated running away even if he could barely stay on his feet.

He holstered the weapon, grabbed Will’s hand, and pulled him into the elevator. “Don’t you dare puke on me,” he mumbled to the girl. 

The doors closed, but in that second, the lights went out, plunging them into darkness. 

Will panicked. 

“Great,” Yune cursed. “Hey, calm down. Stop screaming.” 

Blue light suddenly strobed through the small lift, lighting it up like a nightclub. 

Terra squirmed until he set her down. She wrapped her arms around Will instinctively, and he to her. Sapphire threads of energy coursed over them briefly, almost too fast to see, but in the pitch blackness, it lit them up. 

The strange occurrence lasted only a few seconds before the power came back on. 

He whispered in disbelief. “What did they do to you...” 

The two kids used each other to keep from falling over. 

The doors opened on the second floor. 

“Come on, Sparky and Squeaker. We’re gonna be late for our ride.” He picked up Terra again in his left arm, and kept ahold of Will’s hand, nearly dragging the kid along. “This isn’t gonna work. Ok. Up. Hold on. Keep your head low.” Yune bent down so Will could climb on his shoulders, and stood with his right arm supporting his leg. 

Carrying two children like this would put a strain on a normal Masaki or Kes, but thankfully he was a Mik, and his people were slightly stronger than the other two human offshoots. That was one of two main reasons he went in to retrieve Senator Runell instead of Selke. He had training as a Regent, and he could carry the man back without losing much speed. Plus, he’d faced worse. He had to carry Zaf’s wounded ass out of a firefight once. He’d learned quickly that the other’s slim frame meant nothing. That Kes might be quick on his feet, but he was as dense as a rock. 

He moved quickly down the hall passing numbered doors. 

A red bolt zipped past his right from behind. They’d found him. 

He drew his pulse pistol and fired multiple red bolts into a trio of Regent officers chasing him down. He ran until they reached room twenty-four, and burst through. He locked the door behind him, and set the kids down. 

This was one of the fifty windows looking out into the central environmentally controlled green yard tucked down into the snowy loft valley. 

“I don’t feel good,” Terra promptly threw up on a floor cushion. 

Yune looked disgusted. “This is gonna be a fun trip home.” He tapped at the com node behind his ear. “Selke, where’s my ride?”

“A little busy,” Selke fired off multiple shots at the Regent officers in the landing bay. She bolted up the ramp and closed it before reinforcements could arrive. “What did you do?! Why does this always end in a firefight with you?”

“I love the action,” he replied. 

“We need to find you a new hobby.” She locked down the ship, and dove into the cockpit to fire up the thrusters. Pulse lasers struck the hull. She looked for any kind of weapons, but the transport vessel didn’t have a single pulse canon or shields. It was an atmospheric ship only, and heavily armored. “Perfect,’ she cursed in irritation. She swiveled out of the chair and dashed to the cargo hold.

Yune leveled his gun at the door and dug for the EM node in his pocket. He noticed Will and Terra moving sluggishly around the room. Will put a bag down and shoved a few things inside it. “Are you packing?”

“I’m not leaving it behind,” Will’s words became more clear. He zipped the red bag closed and flopped over on it, breathing hard. The sedative was wearing off.

He noticed Terra had sat down with a purple backpack clutched in her arms. “I don’t believe this. Now you come with actual baggage.” He sarcastically thanked Doctor Malarei for sending them here so the kids could pack before their escape. How thoughtful of her.

Terra put on her backpack and shuffled to the door. She braced herself against it with one hand, and put the other on the control panel. A spark lit beneath her palm. Dozens of thin threads of energy like an electrical current shot out along the panel, fusing it closed. 

Yune shrugged and pocketed the disruption device. This girl was an EM node. 

She whined and dropped to the floor. “I don’t wanna go back to the Inclusion room,” she cried. “It scares me.”

“You’re not going back, kiddo,” Yune promised. “But we’re not in the clear yet. Stay strong a little longer.”

She looked up at him through stands of long chestnut colored hair and blinked green eyes. Her expression read of distrust, though it quickly broke when she wrapped her arms around herself. “It hurts. I wanna go home.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get you back to your family and report this place.”

“Liar!” Will snapped. He staggered to his feet, clenching his hands into small, tight fists. Tears slipped down his face from his emotions and the sense of phase six. “We can’t go home!  Ever! So stop lying!”

“Whoa, hey, take it back to One, Sparky.”

They could hear the Regents attempting to break through the door. Terra backpedaled away.

Yune spoke to his companion on the other end of the frequency. “Company wants my autograph real bad. Any time, Selke...”

A shadow darkened the green grass. 

The Lockrum crashed through the dome, sending shards of the clear structure raining down along with blue weapons bursts from a modified handheld tractor beam generator used for transporting heavier equipment  She’d secured it magnetically to the ramp, connected it to the ship’s computer, and lowered the ramp to provide cover fire. Selke grinned from the pilot’s seat. “I made a gun.”

Yune grinned. Sometimes, he really loved that woman. “Ok, let’s go.” He hoisted Terra into the crook of his left arm again, and signalled his partner before taking Will’s hand. “Cover me.”

Selke set the ship down and ran to the ramp to provide manual fire power as Yune dashed across the dangerous open area with…

She paused.

Were those the kids? 

“Where’s Runell?” she barked. Laser blasts hit the ship, causing further damage to the hull. 

“Remember that change of plans? Say ‘hi’ to the change.”

“You gotta be kidding me.” She blinked at the boy carrying the red duffle. “Is that luggage? You stopped to pack their things?!”

“I got railroaded.”

Will stumbled and fell to his knees. 

Yune turned around. “Now’s not the time for a nap, Sparky. Move it before I shoulder you!” 

He barely heard him. Will struggled to get to his feet when a voice froze him in place.

“Two-Forty-Six!” 

Will’s head snapped up at a familiar tenor male voice barking the number that became his name. His heart lurched into his throat.

Senator Runell strode alongside a wobbly Doctor Barakan onto the lawn with two dozen Regent officers flanking them. 

“Whelp,” Yune quipped, “found Runell.”

The tall, slim senator spoke with firm authority. “Return Two-Twelve to us immediately. Two-Forty-Six, return to your room at once. These criminals will be killed for attempted kidnapping of Masakan Federation property.”

“We’re not property!” Terra shouted back. 

“Yes, you are, Two-Twelve. Every cell in your body belongs to Chancellor Urza.”

Will shivered, sweating profusely as his vision blurred. 

Doctor Barakan took slow steps forward. “What you’re feeling is the final stage of the gift I’ve given you to save the galaxy. It’s changing you into something extraordinary. Only I can teach you how to use it. You have a greater destiny to fulfill, and you’re turning your back on our purpose here,” he burst out in anger, “on your planet!”

Strands of short dark hair fell in front of Will’s face. He felt like his heart would shred itself to bits inside his chest, then set the bits on fire. He clenched his teeth from flashes of light behind his eyes. 

Terra buried her face in Yune’s neck from the same experience. She wanted to sleep forever, but this stranger told her stay strong, and she had to remain awake for Will. He needed her, and she needed him. 

“Phase six is the most painful. The more you fight this metamorphosis, the more agonizing it will be. Let go, Two-Forty-Six. Come back with me, and I’ll make the pain go away.” 

“No,” his voice rasped. 

“You’re in no condition to leave here. Without proper treatment, this phase could kill you. Do you want Two-Twelve to die because of your stubbornness?”

“She won’t. I won’t let her die,” Will snarled the promise. 

Senator Runell stepped up and glared. “Then do as you’re told, Two-Forty-Six! Return to your room immediately!”

Yune’s eyes flicked to each gun trained on them, but the Regents weren’t advancing. They should have shot him by now. Then it hit him like a Thorned ridgeback beast’s tusks to the gut: 

They were afraid of the children. 

These trembling, small kids elicited enough caution to keep grown, trained officers at a distance. Faint threads of energy flickered within a second over Terra’s hands clasped around his neck. He suddenly felt like he had a bomb in his arm that needed hugs and a sippie cup.

Will’s breathing had increased to near hyperventilation, but it wasn’t only from the repercussions of phase six working aggressively through his body. 

He was pissed. He wanted revenge. 

Will let the fire from the inclusion process fuel his anger at his captors, his tormentors. For everything they had done to himself and Terra in the past six months, for the pain, the agony, the repeated separations from her, the experiments, and the isolation in a sensory deprivation chamber ...for all of it, he wanted them to hurt. He wanted the whole place to burn to the ground, and he knew Terra felt the same. 

“Two-Forty-Six!” Runell bellowed again.

“Stop calling me that!”

“That is your name!”

“No!”

“Enough of this insolence!” Runell raised his arm. “Ready your weapons!”

Will shot them the most dangerous glare an enraged being could create, “Leave us ALONE!” 

A blue shock wave exploded from him straight for the Regents. It skimmed along the ground, tearing up wads of grass, and hammered into the officers, Runell, and Doctor Barakan. Every window hit by the wave shattered.

The blast sent them screaming up to the first floor level like badly crafted paper airplanes in a storm. Some slammed into the walls, while others fell back to the ground. All twenty-six people crumpled. 

Will collapsed. The pulse drained him completely. His entire body, even his fingernails, hurt. He gripped the grass, feeling a tingly sense of energy from it and pulled on it greedily.

Yune was left speechless for once. He really needed to read that file. 

He set Terra down on the ramp for Selke to take her inside, and ran back to the boy, scooped him up, and hurried back to the Lockrium. As soon as he was inside, he hit the control panel to raise the ramp. 

Yune set him down against the bulkhead behind the cockpit and slid into the seat. 

Will and Terra crawled to each other and huddled together. 

Selke was already firing up the thrusters. The victims of Will’s energy pulse were staggering back to their feet. Yune wordlessly took control and used the time the boy had given them to maneuver the ship straight up through the broken dome. Sapphire pulse fire from the Regents speared up at them. The hull took major damage. 

He flew as low as he could, weaving through the mountains in a bee-flight confusing path. 

The right engine blew. Yune fought the controls to set the ship down in the same adjacent loft valley they’d left their personal craft in. The Lockrium hit the ground hard, tearing up clods of dirt and sending plumes of snow billowing high into the air. 

They skid sideways to a stop. The debris and snow clouds took longer to settle.

He let go of the controls and leaned back with a heavy exhale and a smarmy grin. “Nailed it.”

Selke got up to check on the kids. She reached out to touch them, but jolted back when threads of energy like whiskers pulled from one into the other, like they were exchanging or sharing it. “What the--?”

Yune stood. “Let’s get them onto the Horizon and off this rock before they track the ship.” He picked up Will. The boy’s body temperature was high enough that he could feel the heat through the fabric. 

They hurried through the snow toward the hulking, dark grey and green, light freighter parked on four landing struts. Yune unlocked the ship and the ramp lowered. They ran inside, and placed the children on the floor of the Horizon’s cockpit between the two control stations flanking the pilot and co-pilot’s seats. 

Yune quickly restarted all the system. Snow blasted away from the ship as it lifted off the ground and the struts retracted into its belly. The Horizon pivoted toward the space between mountains, and left the surface of Masaka.

Thankfully, the Regents didn’t catch on fast enough that the intruders in Strafsend were Yune Darrak and Selke Kellnaris. But he knew they would soon. They would figure it out by running their images caught by any security cameras through the Federation database. His profile as a former cadet would come up, and hers as a bounty hunter would glow like a protostar in the Void. 

‘Soon’ came sooner than he’d thought. 

Four Archer class single seat fighters shot into the sky from the city of Donathakiri right for them. 

“So, they were ready. I was about to be disappointed. Everybody hold on.” Yune throttled up the atmospheric thrusters as far as he could while weaving around pulse fire. 

He lead them on a chase into the upper atmosphere, bursting through the towering plumes of clouds. Though the shields were up, the ship rocked slightly from turbulence. The inertial dampers did their job of keeping those inside from being shaken up. 

They found more company waiting once they reached high orbit. 

“Ok, not disappointed.” All they had to do was survive long enough to clear the first moon, and they would be home free. They weren’t close enough on his tail to track the jump point. Even so, he had a plan. 

The com pinged to life from a message from Chancellor Urza on all local frequencies. [Attention all Regents. A Mikran vessel has kidnapped two of the One Thousand.]

“The One Thousand?” Yune and Selke gaped synchronously. 

He cursed. “Son of a--” 

[Disable that ship at all costs, but do not destroy it. I repeat. Do not destroy that ship. Return those children to the safety of our home.]

Laser blasts from the nearby ships sliced through the air. The Horizon’s shields took a few direct hits, but held. Yune’s piloting skills kept the majority of their shots continuing on their route into space. 

“How are they doing back there?”

“The boy threw up,” Selke reported.

“Again? Ugh. Great.” 

This day kept going from bad to even worse. Now he had to get a new coat of paint for the Horizon, and a new identification code. Both were possible, just inconvenient.

The Masaka system contained multiple old, permanent jump points that were guarded by the Regents. However, flash jump points could be created by any ship with an Ephypsan core and a jump drive. It would disappear once the ship entered the point, and leave behind a signature scar that would fade in seconds. The permanent points were preferred for long distance travel between FTL, but the temporary ones were good for short bursts - which came in handy when trying to lose anyone wanting to blow their ship into a shrapnel cloud.

As for where the permanent points came from, each one was discovered, so no one knew if they were a natural phenomenon or fabricated.

Bursts of EM pulses peppered space around him like fireworks. They were trying to kill his ship without destroying it. That boiled his blood. This was his baby and home. Not only that, he was on it, and did not look forward to a life sentence in prison, or the more likely outcome in this situation: death. 

He pushed the ship’s sublight engines to their limit.

Yune got enough of a lead from the Regents that as soon as he was clear of the lunar base, he activated a flash jump point, and fled the system.

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #11: Selke's people - the Felorians - are slightly telepathic, and have a matriarchal society. Although all Felorians are considered equal, the majority of those in power are still female. Selke never bought into the 'women are better than men' idea. 
> 
> Felorians get 'vibes' about people, but can't read minds, connect with another telepathically, or heavily sense emotions without an outside amplifier called a Micathyst crystal. They call these crystals the "Eye" due to giving them the ability to see into the other person. These are harvested from the stomach of a massive, thick, six-legged space dwelling creature called a Ceenak. Ceenak's feed on matter within asteroid fields, latching onto the larger rocks and leaving deep indentations in them, or consuming the smaller ones. It is a slow, but necessary process. If space had an ecosystem, they're integral to it. Like space whales. They have no eyes. They are docile, travel in small groups that live in asteroid fields, and ignore anything else in the galaxy unless it attacks them first. It can take hundreds of years to get every ounce of nutrients from an asteroid field.
> 
> In order to extract the crystallized deposit, the Ceenak must be lulled into a state of trust by the person wishing to extract the deposit, achieved by the Felorian's telepathic abilities. While in this trance-like state, the person enters the massive creature, removes the deposit from its stomach lining, and exits. The creature is then lifted from its trance, and goes on its way without being the wiser. This method was discovered by accident. Before then, Felorians would lure one away from the group, kill it, and harvest the deposits. The new method was a much better way to coexist and ensure the growth of new micathyst deposits after they realized they were hunting the creatures to extinction. 
> 
> The only other stone Felorians can use to amplify their abilities is Amoradite, found on comets. They avoid using it, since the connection it creates with their target is so strong, it can be damaging to both. Only the Acolytes of Shora - monks who've trained their entire lives to hone their abilities -had high telepathic prowess and can read minds without the aid of a micathyst crystal. Only they will dare to use the palm-sized amoradite gem known as the "Eye of Shora."


	12. The Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yune and Selke read the project file Yune's contact lenses recorded in Strafsend. They learn about the experiments, the reasoning behind it, and feel the gravity of their decision to rescue Will and Terra.

###  **Chapter 12**

 

The minutes that passed while the ship soared through the wormhole were filled with a solid silence between them.

Yune zappit-hopped through four more jump points, returning to the same location three times before taking the last one. Hopefully, multiple points would confuse anyone who may have gotten close enough to track their flash point in the few seconds it would exist.

As soon as the ship exited the last fissure, he scanned the area. No other ships were in range of the long range sensors. They were alone amid space dust and a distant comet.

“We’re clear.” He activated the ship’s automatic helm control, got up, and knelt by the huddled children. He recalled what Doctor Malarei had said about enduring a phase without sedation, so he removed the injector from his pocket.

Will’s eyes rested on the unit. Distrust and fear shone in them. A spark of blue streaked across his brown irises. His teeth clenched from pain.

Terra’s trembling hand lifted when she saw the injector.

Selke knelt and slowly pushed her arm down. understanding that she was trying to protect her friend. Even in the face of this dire situation, she showed bravery and heart - both admired traits by the Felorian people. “It’s ok. You’re safe, now. We’re not going to hurt him or you.”

The small girl didn’t have the strength to question, so she let herself believe this strange alien woman. Terra’s arm wrapped around Will again and she buried her face in his shoulder.

Yune pressed the unit to their necks with one click each.

The boy’s eyes closed to the will of the sedative. The two now breathed more easily.

He pocketed the injector, and dropped into the seat behind the pilot’s chair. Now that he had time, he scanned his contact lenses and uploaded the data to the ship’s computer so he could get a good look at that file on the kids from the facility’s office computer. He wanted answers.

Selke ignored Yune, as he did to her, and retrieved a datadot - a small, handheld, tube-shaped device with a screen that popped out from the side - from the medical bay in lieu of moving the kids. These were extremely common and used for multipurpose scanning. She turned her back to Yune hunched over in the seat reading, and checked their new passengers for any injuries. The datadot came back with fluctuating readings of stress indicative of someone currently undergoing a traumatic experience. What baffled her was their genetic readout. They scanned as Human, but the computer was unable to verify their Terran markers as claimed by Chancellor Urza. In fact, it couldn’t identify the other half at all. The scanner could be malfunctioning. They would need to go to med bay anyway for a complete physical, so she would run a more in-depth genetic scan there.

“Hey,” Yune interrupted her thought. “I know you’re pissed at me right now, but you might want to back-pocket that and read this.”

She leaned on the back of his seat to get a look over his shoulder. “A scientific report?”

He frowned. “On experiments.”

Headshots of a solemn Will and Terra in their white clothing capped a detailed project report with a bold title in all caps.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

> ####  **THE ALTAIR PROJECT**
> 
> Original 50 Masakan adult subjects discharged in favor of 50 Terran minor refugees from the One Thousand. All Masakan lives - saved. It is theorized that a child’s mind and body can withstand and adapt to the strain of the phases in the Altair DNA Inclusion process exponentially better than an adult.
> 
>  
> 
> Update: 2 Terrans - 1 male and 1 female - acquired from the Morning Star. Subjects received inoculations immediately upon extraction from Terra. Chance of subjects succumbing to known diseases: nominal. Chance of subjects spreading Terran diseases: nominal.
> 
>   
>  Altair DNA Inclusion to begin immediately upon their arrival at Strafsend. **Subjects will not be informed of any details of the Altair Project** in order to keep their development and test results as organic as possible.
> 
>              Name: William Eric Kade
> 
>              Age: 8 GSY.  
>    
>               Terran One Thousand Designation: 246
> 
>              Alternate subject 1.
> 
>  
> 
>               Name: Emma “Terra” Ann Kitridge.
> 
>               Age: 8 GSY.
> 
>               Terran One Thousand Designation: 212.
> 
>               Alternate subject 2.
> 
> **Subjects will be referred to in all variances by their One Thousand designation numbers. Their given names are to be expunged from their psyches.** All staff will comply to this ruling. Any deviance will result in expulsion from the program. Any mention of the project and/or facility beyond its walls will be met with imprisonment for insubordination.
> 
>   
>  Age testing revealed their cellular structures to be 8 GSY. Terran age of 10.5 TY. **Terran age to be expunged from their psyches.** All staff will comply to this ruling. Any deviance will result in expulsion from the program. Any mention of the project and/or facility beyond its walls will be met with imprisonment for insubordination.
> 
>  

Other strict rules enacted upon the scientists and Regents involved followed in a brief, but blunt list. Beneath these were a series of dates and the events that occurred regarding the phases.

 

 

 

 

 

> **Phase 1**. 5% of Altair DNA introduced to 246 and 212 to test for rejection.  No rejection detected. Altair DNA and Terran Human DNA mergance a success. Brain activity highly active during this phase. Subjects’ EKG and EEG wavelengths synchronized. Cellular regeneration increased by 1%. Prospect of heightened recovery from physical injuries: possible .DNA Inclusion amount increased to predetermined level of 10%. Altair DNA and RNA mergance at 15%.
> 
> Subjects kept in a comatose state for one week.
> 
> 246’s poor eyesight regenerated to sharpened vision identical to that of a Mik. 212’s optical perception gained similar results. Altair genetic markers, nucleotides, and entrons, activated via high emotional trigger. DNA and RNA fusion noted externally as an unexpected blue bio-electric energy discharge originating from the subjects’ dermal layers. Subjects are not in control of this phenomenon. Mild sedation by use of capathacin is required to control any potentially harmful outbursts. In-depth study of this energy to commence immediately.
> 
> Altairan genetic markers in both subjects: identical.
> 
> **Phase 2**. Altair DNA and RNA mergance at 30%. Subjects began sessions in sensory deprivation in a suspension field. 246 gave mixed results due to episodes of panic. 212 remained tense with an elevated heart rate. 246 was kept in a separate room during 212’s sessions, but also exhibited the same signs simultaneously.
> 
> Isolation tests revealed a strange energy field detected around 212 and 246.
> 
> Both subjects together in the sensory deprivation chamber yielded an increase in the density of the field so much so that it entered the visible light spectrum. More testing required.
> 
> There is no doubt that a strong bond exists between the two subjects that goes beyond our understanding. Subjects separated at random intervals and kept blind to the others whereabouts to test this bond.
> 
> **Phase 3.**  Altair DNA and RNA mergance at 45%. The fields they emit seem to harmonize one another. This affects brain waves and heart rate. Subjects’ ‘merge’ fields to aid one another by way of transfering and sharing this bio-energy in times of distress. Subjects are unaware of this occurrence. 246 exhibits higher discomfort levels than 212 during each phase.
> 
> Subjects will remain in physical contact until the fields are stabilized. 85% of the time, the motion to perform the lightest physical touch will be an unconscious act by both subjects.
> 
> A brief test at the end of phase 3 was conducted. 246 was not allowed access to 212 for ten minutes, nor sedated. Subject manifested discomfort as visible pain. Once returned to the same room, Subjects embraced. Field stabilization occurred within five minutes. Subjects remained non-sedated to test the potency of this field. Their stress levels decreased significantly. However, the field outputs increased to account for the absence of the sedation. Capathacin not only dulls their senses, but also the field they emit as well. This will be useful in controlling any outbursts. Authorization given to all staff members to use increased capathacin doses in the event that such heavy sedation is required.
> 
> 246 and 212 are allowed to remain together after every phase in order to facilitate a smooth and relatively painless transition. More study on this energy exchange required.
> 
> Exercise caution if conducting isolation tests during periods of distress. 246 and 212 become hostile if separated. Use of capathacin is advised.
> 
> This field mergance could explain their intense drive to remain in close proximity to one another.
> 
> Subjects separated for three days to test this theory. Subjects’ aggression, glucose levels, and blood pressure were indicative of high systemic stress. Bio-electric energy fluctuated in irregular bursts. 246 and 212 barely ate, displayed signs of illness, melancholy, frustration, and lethargy.
> 
> Subjects normalized once placed within the same area.  
> 
> During the incorporation of the Altair DNA into their genetic structures, it appears as though they ‘need’ each other to aid in the mergance, and give relief to the effects. Subjects remain unaware of this reason. It appears they simply ‘know’ the other needs them.
> 
> To preserve their psychological and physical health, it is ill advised to separate them for long periods of time until after the completion of phase six.
> 
> **Phase 4**. Altair DNA and RNA mergance at 58%. Traces of Terran evolution markers diminished by 50%.
> 
> Subjects learned to create spheres of condensed bio-electric energy that causes damage to external sources, but can be passed between them without harm. They use it for play. This holds potential as a biological projectile weapon. Tests to determine the strength and longevity of these energy spheres will commence immediately, as well as tests to determine the amount of spheres each can create before failure.
> 
> Tests conducted on the spheres show they hold a 95% similarity to Ephypsan particles. It is theorized that exposure to pure Ephypsan particles will not adversely affect the subjects.
> 
> Subjects exposed to 1000 farrons of pure Ephypsan particles to test their endurance. Normal beings would suffer severe radiation burns and require medical treatment. Subjects became hyper, and showed an increase in their bio-electrical energy output. Control over that ability diminished to 5%. They became ‘charged.’ Subjects were taken to the neighboring loft valley, Pemarend, to harmlessly discharge the excess energy as a precaution to ensure they did not do so within the facility.
> 
> Studies in Masakan history, and the written and verbal language are progressing adequately. Doctor Malarei reported that 246 and 212 are very curious. Their ability to retain the language without the use of their translators exceeded her expectations.
> 
> Subjects became ill. Analysis showed Ephypsan particles present in their blood streams, but it was not the cause of the illness. They have the common cold, picked up from a supply transport pilot who failed to disclose their illness. Inclusion treatments and tests suspended for one week to allow for healing, rest, and recreation. An order of cold medication called in for the rest of the staff. More tissues required.
> 
> **Phase 5**. Altair DNA and RNA mergance at 85%. Subjects are beginning to learn to control manifesting this bio-energy. Base power level tested to be equivalent to a level 5 pulse stun blast. Highest current power levels tested to be equivalent to a level 10 pulse laser. The potential to expand on the destructive force of the bio-energy -- now dubbed ‘Altairan Energy’ - confirmed positive. Subjects exhibited exhaustion after high levels of Altairan energy was released, or maintained for an extended period of time. 212’s ability to sustain their energy is greater than 246’s. 246’s power output is greater than 212’s. 246’s more potent discomfort level after each phase could be related to this greater energy output.
> 
> Subjects displayed another show of rebellion while involved in their recreation time. 246 and 212 were heavily sedated.
> 
> **Phase 6** : TBD. Speculation analysis: Altair DNA inclusion at 100%. Mergance will morph to a complete overwrite of the Terran markers along with half of the subjects original genetic code. Hybrid status will be attained. Externally, there should be no difference. Internally, Subjects’ immune systems will strengthen, rate of healing should theoretically increase along with physical durability, and they will no longer scan as Terran Humans. No scanner is equipped to detect a genetic code as ancient as the Altair. They will be undetectable by any current known technology. The power they possess will be, in a sense, cloaked.
> 
> Subjects will have greater ease of control of the field created by the Altair genetic markers. Training to strengthen their skills will result in more finite control, and likely reveal previously unknown abilities. **These abilities are irrelevant. Focus will remain on obtaining the highest potential energy output possible.**
> 
> _Note: Beware of puberty._

“By Shora…” Selke covered her mouth.

Both glanced back to the kids, then to each other. 

They’d gone in to extract Senator Runell, turn him over to Chancellor Urza, and become heroes. Instead, they’d picked up two tiny mysteries, and a cargo bay full of problems. 

Yune felt the sudden weight of the universe park itself on his shoulders and have a drink with his two new friends, Shocked-Beyond-All-Logical-Thought, and Regret. “Shit.”

She shared his sentiment. She tapped on the console. “Looks like there was more.”

“I didn’t have time to scan through all of it.” He leaned back. “If I’da known what they were instead of just kids, I would have left them there.”

“No you wouldn’t,” she slapped down his attempt to hide behind his roughened rogue mask. “You might be a dick, but you’re not heartless.”

He grumbled and sank back in the seat. “Yeah, and look what that got us? Two of the One Thousand, plus whatever the hell they are, now.”

Selke mused. “Altair....” 

“You know anything about that?” He knew she absorbed information like a sponge, which was what made her invaluable to their old team. No matter what planet they landed on, she could research the local customs and make sure they didn’t look like complete bumbling Blorplops when on a job. 

She worked to recall the details of what she’d learned. “Back on Onikrion Four, when we tracked down that arms dealer for the Enkai, it took us to some ruins.”

“I remember that. Hell of a firefight, too. But, we got him and got paid. What’s so special about that?”

“I’d asked a local about them while you were setting up the trap in the ruins.”

“And you never mentioned this?”

“It wasn’t relevant to our mission, and you wouldn’t have been interested anyway. It was ‘boring history stuff,’” she mocked the way he used to brush off cultural history lessons. If they weren’t exciting, or could be used for their immediate needs, he didn’t want to hear about it. “I asked out of personal curiosity.”

He gnawed on the inside of his cheek. “Well, I’m kinda interested now.”

“Well, that Onikri said the Altair were a race that existed before the Xox. They were the first galactic explorers. They left marks of their presence all over the galaxy, and those ruins were part of it.”

“If they were everywhere, why haven’t I heard of them?” 

“They’re considered a myth. The Onikri don’t even have a record of what they looked like, but they were thought to have incredible powers, and younger species deemed them to be gods - including the Onikri. According to them, no one’s seen an Altair since the war began.”

He and Selke watched the two children slumped on each other against the bulkhead, shivering, breathing hard, sweating, and clinging to each other for their lives fighting phase six together. Wisps of Altair energy flared in and out of existence around them in azure threads, instinctively reaching out to save the other. As the report stated, half of their DNA was currently being overwritten by that of an ancient alien race. 

“Time to restart the clock on that one,” Yune said.

The fact that the Regents had experimented on them fully knowing who they were, meant that these two were now invaluable to the Masakan Federation, and the galaxy. 

Selke’s eyes softened at the sight of them. She brushed her hand in a parental manner down the girl’s hair and the side of the boy’s face. 

Yune’s decision to rescue them and run would give him the highest bounty known across the stars in the history of space travel. They and the kids would be hunted by the Regents, bounty hunters, the Xox, and any other governments or groups looking to either sell them to the enemy - or highest bidder - in exchange for immunity, or return them to Chancellor Urza. 

But what was her endgame? Why do this to two of the One Thousand and risk breaking whatever destiny they were believed to hold? 

This was not how this day was supposed to end at all. They were supposed to be given clean slates, a boatload of money, and dubbed heroes. 

Now he had two of The One Thousand on his ship, and to top that off, Will and Terra were now the only Altair/Human hybrids in existence.

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #12: *The Altair Project was originally called "Project: Cloak" due to the fact that this intense power intended for catastrophic destruction to the Xox is hidden perfectly within the seemingly frail bodies of two humans. No known scanning technology could detect it. They could carry this 'weapon' in broad daylight without anyone becoming the wiser. 
> 
> The space-fairing species that are part of the Masakan Federation follow Galactic Standard Time. It is a construct set by the Masaki to use as the generally accepted time frame in agreement with these species 1200 years ago. A Person's age is defaulted to fit within GST. Their age on their home planets vary greatly due to different rates of revolution of their homeworlds around their stars. Having a standard time for space-fairing species makes everything easier. 
> 
> *GSY = Galactic Standard Year  
> *TY = Terran Year.  
> 1 GSY = 1.30 TY.


	13. New Normal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will wakes up to find Selke and Yune arguing about what to do with them.

###  **Chapter 13**

 

_Space…_

 

The muted plosives of arguing worked through Will’s ears into his mind like raindrops on leaves, and pulled him out of the meager sleep he’d managed to snag. 

He cracked his eyes open. The blurry warm lighting held a blue vignette at the edges of his vision. He blinked to bring the ceiling of the Horizon’s lounge into focus. Gradually, the blue edge faded away. His body felt heavy and sore, like someone had made him run ten miles without rest.

Terra curled up next to him with her arm over his chest and her head against his shoulder. Both of them lay on the lounge couch cushions set on the floor. He rested his hand over her arm and tried to remember how he got here, or even where ‘here’ was. Will forced his memory to go back far enough to put the pieces together. When they did, he wished he hadn’t tried. 

They’d drugged him, injected him with the same substance he’d been subjected to for the past six months. He remembered the escape, the confusion, fear, and laser bolts zipping by him. He recalled the intense emotions that pulled the energy pulse out of his body, almost out of his control - like something else inside him reacted to his state and fought back. He recalled the exhaustion that followed. The rest of the experience came in flashes that made very little sense. But he clearly remembered the pain, the twisting, incomprehensible sensation of every inch of him changing into something else, like he was Legos that someone was attempting to restack into a different form. 

The sedative the stranger gave him calmed him down. Terra’s presence and shared energy may have been the only thing to get him through it. Eventually, the worst of it passed, and he’d fallen asleep. 

Will moved her arm and sat up. That sense had faded drastically, but remnants of it remained. Compared to what he’d just survived, ignoring it was easy. But where was he now? 

The steady ambient rumble brought back memories of the Morning Star. He looked to his right, and could see pinpoints of light within a black abyss through a wide three-sectioned window facing the couch. 

The rumble belonged to a spaceship’s engines.

He was in space. Again.

The arguing continued from down the ship’s chunky hall. He could barely decipher the words. He wondered if this phase was affecting his translator. He tried to say ‘translator: off’ and then ‘translator: on’, but his voice wouldn’t work to give the restart commands. Until it obeyed him, he strained to pick up the few words he could interpret. The nanites translation quickly grew worse and worse.

“We cannot take them back to Masaka. If the Regents get their hands on them--,” Selke snapped. 

“I’m not saying we hand them over,” Yune countered. “But we have to find someone to take care of them who can handle...this. That’s why I saw drop ‘em off with the Tehrellians.” 

“The Tehrellians might not take them. Dealing with children of different species is considered meddling in the affairs of another race. You know how neutral they are. If they were still just part of the One Thousand, maybe we could find someone else, but...,they’re not even full Human anymore.”

“Not...Human?” Will glanced down at his hands. He looked fine. He didn’t have extra appendages, horns, a tail, or anything. He swallowed. His throat was dry, but it felt normal. He even tested his teeth with his tongue in case he grew fangs. He had all twenty digits. Everything was where it should be and as it should be. He knew whatever Doctor Barakan and his team had injected them with had given himself and Terra some kind of superpower, but they were never told more than, ‘This is a tool for you to use to save the galaxy.’ 

Yune and Selke were in a room to the right of the lounge with a table in the middle and cabinets to one side tucked into alcoves in the bulkhead. It resembled a kitchen. They had left the door open.

“Fine. Then what do you suggest we do?” Yune folded his arms. “We can’t take them back to Terra, and we can’t trust anyone we know.”

“As much as I know Zaf has a good heart, he’d crack under the pressure of a Regent interrogation. And there is no way in hell Marci is finding out about these kids. She’d sell them into slavery to the first person to offer her enough money.”

Yune’s voice lowered with a sigh. “There’s literally is no safe place for those kids anywhere.” 

“That’s not... entirely true,” Selke began. 

“Don’t take this where I think you’re taking this…”

“We know the stakes.“

“Oh no.”

“You said it yourself: they have nowhere else to go.”

“No.”

“Yune--”

“They are not staying on _my_ ship.”

“Then we’ll keep them on the Tapheila.”

“That bird can’t outrun a Regent ship. No offense.”

That was her beloved home for the past five years. She glared. “Offense: taken.”

Will got to his feet and padded barefoot across the cold metal floor toward the arguing. 

“Look, why don’t we just find this Captain Linell the hot doctor talked about and take the kids to them. They had a plan to break those two out anyway.”

“They’re Regents. No.” 

“Then what are we supposed to do? Do you have any idea what kind of trouble this invites on us? We’ll be wanted in every system in the galaxy! By Everyone! Even more so than usual!”

“I thought you wanted to be a hero.”

“And rich! Not broke and ranking on the top of the Regent’s hit list. Because of them, I have to completely overhaul the Horizon. Getting a new ident code is harder than removing a micathyst deposit from a Ceenak’s stomach! Trust me. That’s not a vacation.”

"Yes. I know." She had kept the beast calm while he retrieved the gem. She also remembered how it went wrong. “You’ve obtained a new code before for lesser reasons than this. Don’t go blaming them when you’re the one who decided to grab them instead of Runell.”

“You didn’t see them strapped to that table. You didn’t hear them scream.” He forced his heightened emotions down ran his hand through his short hair. “As you were so quick to point out earlier, I couldn’t walk away.”

“Because you still live up to that part of the oath. You always have,” she stated calmly. “I checked them over in med bay while they were asleep. They no longer scan as Terran Human.” Her voice faded to a whisper to push the severity of her findings. “They scan as something we don’t even have on record.”

He pointed at her with one finger. “The answer’s no. I still vote the Tehrellians.”

“Yune…”

“Our lives will be over!”

“So will theirs! At least with us, they’ll have a chance to live.”

Yune worried his face. 

“They lost their world - literally and figuratively. They were experimented on to extreme violation. Everything they knew is gone. They’re going to try to rebuild their identities as best they can. The Regents knew this. They knew how easy it would be to offer up a place for them to belong, a purpose, and then mold that new identity into something to suit their needs. We can’t let that happen.”

He pointed at his own chest. “I am not an example to follow, and you know that.”

“Yes, but we’re it.”

 “We have no idea how to take care of them. They’re eight years old. They’re basically babies. We drop them off with the Tehrellians, and that’s final.”

“I’m not a baby,” Will’s high pitched voice interrupted with concern. It cracked as he strained to use it. 

 A lead weight crushed their conversation as both locked their attention on the small boy. Even for a Terran human, he was still barely pushing four-feet-three-inches.

“Ah,” Yune rubbed the back of his neck, “Hey, Sparky,” he pasted on a smile. He fumbled through a cabinet for a bag of snacks and pulled out a brown disk. “Cookie?”

Will remained taciturn.

Yune lowered is hand. “How long have you been standing there?” 

Will remained serious. He didn’t understand a word of that, but he knew it was about them. The Mikran language was different from Masakan, but held similar syllables. He felt a buzzing sensation in the back of his head, and heard a click. He rubbed the area like that would fix the problem. 

The tense seconds ticked by. 

“So,...you have a name, kid?” he tried again. 

Will blinked. “Huh?”

“A name. You know, what your parents called you?” 

Will’s eyes shifted between the two aliens, looking for any clues that might give him a hint as to what the taller man was saying. 

Selke rested her unblinking gaze on the small human. “Can you understand us?”

Her language was even weirder. Nothing about it held any familiarity. Will continued to rub at the back of his head, and then stuck his fingers in his ears as if he could pull the nanites out with his earwax. 

Yune figured it out. Both of the kids’ bodies had been producing large amounts of energy. That along with the shockwave Will used could have disrupted their translators. Or, it could only be a byproduct of phase six. If they’d gone through five of the phases before hand, and no one made note of this interference in the project report, he had to set his bet on Phase Six as the culprit. 

“Thought so. His translator’s wet the bed.” He dug a small tool out of his pocket that he would use on his contact lenses and reached out to Will. 

Will eyed him suspiciously and backed up into the lounge. He stopped and looked down at Terra still curled up on the floor, then to Yune. He moved to stand between them.

“It’s ok,” Yune tapped on the back of his own head, then pointed to his ears and made sure to speak as disarmingly as possible. “This won’t hurt.” He approached him slowly, keeping his hands visible the whole time. 

Will held out his right hand in defense. Small lines of blue energy moved from all points of his hand to his palm. 

Yune stopped. “Whoa, hey, easy, Sparky. Put it down.” He tried another tactic and switched to Masakan, of which he was fluent. “I get that you’re scared. I'm not going to hurt you. I’m going to fix your translator. Do you understand me?”

Will blinked, lowered his hand, and recalled the energy. “You’re Masakan?” he replied in kind.

“No. Hold still.” He set the device close to Will’s right ear, parting the strands of shaggy dark hair out of the way. "Talk to me for a second in your native language. What Terran language do you speak?"

"English."

"How much Masakan do you understand?"

"A lot, I guess. I can read and write pretty well. They taught us."

“In six months? You’re fluent?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes they say stuff I don’t understand.”

Either they were already adept at absorbing information, or that in conjunction with the Altair DNA had given them a boost in that area. "All right. What about your favorite vid?"

"Why?"

"Humor me."

"Um... I don't...remember." 

"Try. The nanites need to re-calibrate to your language. Describe what you recall."

He pondered it for a moment. "Um...ruins, a temple...It was about an adventurer, with a brown jacket like yours, and a hat that he never left behind. He was cool." His eyes widened when it shot back to mind. How could he ever forget that? "Indiana Jones!" 

Seconds later, Will heard the click again, and the same buzzing sensation. 

Yune lowered the tool and switched back to his native language. “That should do it.” He held up the tool, and Selke took it from him so she could fix the girl’s translator when she woke up. “So,” he stood. “Let’s start over. What’s your name?” 

Will’s mouth opened, but the first thing to come to mind wasn’t his name. It was his number. He refused to let it find a voice. Only one person in the past six months ever said it to him. Their names lost meaning, and became a code only they used to refer to one another. They made sure the other wouldn’t forget, but the constant bombardment of their numbers as personal identifiers was steadily boring through their attempts. He hated it, but he responded instinctively to that number. 

Yune’s worry went up a notch. That wasn’t a good sign. “I’m sure it’s not Two-Forty-Six.”

“It’s not,” Will blurted out automatically. 

“Then what is it?”

“It’s...it’s…”

Yune waited patiently.

“W-Will.”

He’d known from the file, but he needed to hear the boy say it first. However, it seemed to be difficult, and that concerned him. It meant the process to erase their names was working. The fact that he had trouble recalling parts of his past meant they were erasing that, too. “Will...what?”

Will was silent. He couldn’t remember. It as one word, but it hovered just out of reach. 

Yune knew he had to remember it on his own. “Don’t give yourself a headache. Give it time, Will.”

That was the first time he’d heard anyone besides Terra say his real name. It sounded and felt weird. And yet a mist of relief settled over him, as though this stranger had just returned his stolen individuality. 

“Who are you?” he finally asked. “What do you want with us? You said Captain Linell’s name. Why? Why did you shoot Janna?”

Yune frowned. “I shot her to protect her.”

“Did you kill her?” Will’s voice lowered.

“No,” Yune answered resolutely. “Just take it easy, kid. You were out for a while. That phase hit you pretty hard.”

Will clenched his fists as a wave of tingling pain washed through his body, sending a blue haze across his vision, and buzzing in his brain. His breath hitched. He felt like being sick again, but it was nowhere near what it was before.

Yune frowned, seeing the blue tint shift quickly across the boy’s sclera, then corrected himself. “Scratch that: it’s hitting you pretty hard.” 

Will breathed hard, waiting for it to pass. He looked up at them once he could speak again. “What are you going to do with us?” 

“Well, we don’t...really know yet,” Yune stumbled over his words. He didn’t want to lie. Enough of that damage had been done already, and Will exhibited signs of trust issues.

Selke poured a cup of water for the boy and handed it to him. 

Will stared at the clear liquid, sniffed it, then drank it. It soothed his raw throat. He looked up to the tall woman with the four light brown spots lining down the center of her forehead as she took the cup to refill it and handed it back. “You’re a Felorian, right?”

She nodded. “That’s right.”

He looked to Yune. “If you’re not Masakan, then what are you?”

“I’m a Mik.”

Will paused, biting his lip and stared into the cup for a moment before finally asking the one question he truly wanted an answer to. “And… what am I?”

The two didn’t know how to reply. This was incredibly delicate, and if all of the coffee were spilled at this point, it might cause more psychological harm than good. For all they knew, Phase Six hadn’t ended yet. These kids had already lost everything. Losing what remained of their identities might be too much.

“You’re...well...,” Yune glanced to Selke, thinking back on their conversation. He didn’t want to admit it out loud, but she was right. His next words would change his life forever, “You’re one lucky kid, Sparky. You and Squeaker get to live with your Uncle Yune and Aunt Selke.”

Selke couldn’t stop an amused smile. “‘Aunt Selke?’”

“This was your idea. And I sure as hell ain’t calling myself ‘Dad.” 

“Here? On the ship.” Will glanced around.

“Well, you don’t see a planet out the window, do you?” Yune moved over to rest his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “First lesson of living in space: you can only trust the news as far as you can throw it.”

“But you can’t throw the news,” Will said, confused.  
“Exactly.”

“Wouldn’t ‘Don’t leave the ship without a space suit’ be lesson one?”

“Listen,” Yune pointed his finger in Will’s face, “Who’s the adult here, kid; me, or you?”

“Right now, my money’s on the kid,” Selke leaned against the counter with her arms crossed, and her feet crossed at the ankles.

Yune grumped out of the lounge back to the cockpit one deck below: his home and comfort territory. 

Terra sat up just in time to see the grown man storm away like he was five years old. She rubbed the back of her head from a weird buzzing sensation and heard a click. “Will?”

Selke checked the setting on the modulator. “Round two. Can you tell her it’s ok?”

Will knelt down next to her. “Something about the phase screwed up our translators,” Will explained. “This is Selke. She’s gonna fix it.”

“Does it hurt?” Terra kept her eyes glued to Selke, though the woman didn’t advance. 

He shook his head. “It just feels funny.”

She nodded.

Selke knelt down next to her and performed the same repairs. She noticed Terra kept a hold of Will’s hand. “Will, ask her a few questions, please.”

“It’s like back on the ship. You have to speak for the ...bananites...to work.” He used her term knowing it would help her relax.

“Ok.”. 

“What’s your favorite color?”

“Pink.”

“Where did you live on Earth?”

“Marina del Rey. I used to go to the ocean. I used to ride my bike there.” 

“What’s your favorite song?”

“‘Mmm Bop.”

“Ew, why?”

She slugged him in the arm. 

“That’ll do,” she couldn’t help but notice the way they interacted. It was definitely reminiscent of siblings, but she got the sense their connection went deeper than that. She stood. 

Will’s stomach growl broke the atmosphere. He wrapped his arms around his middle. The inclusion processes always left him starving.

“Sit down, you two. I’ll make you something,” Selke grabbed a couple of nutrient packets from the cupboard and stuck them in a small recess surrounded by buttons on a flat screen. She entered in a desired meal and a blue light illuminated the inside. Like everything else, it was powered by Ephypsan energy. Moments later, the packets had morphed to a steaming bowl of rice with meat draped across the top. She gave it to him, then made another for Terra. 

Will sniffed it, then took a bite. It tasted like someone heated up jerky in water and called it beef. The bits that resembled rice were slightly crunchy. “What is this? It’s terrible.”

“You’ve been awake for five minutes and you’re already insulting my cooking. Congratulations. You beat Yune’s record by a minute.” 

Terra scrunched up her nose, but took a bite. “Gross. It tastes like styrofoam.” It resembled the meals the Regents fed them on the Morning Star. 

“Reformed food is never as good as home cooked. We’re a little low on resources right now, so we’ll have to make do with this until we can pick up supplies.”

“The food at Strafsend was better,” Will mumbled.

“Then perhaps you’d like to go back?” She had no intention of going through with the threat, but the boy needed to learn how to be grateful. He was a child, and this was a small step. 

Both children stared wide-eyed and shook their heads rapidly from side to side.

“Good,” she diffused the tense fear coming from them, “Don’t worry, you’re not going back. Eat up.”

She watched them pick at it, and slowly eat out of necessity. The medical scan had showed their bodies using massive amounts of energy to process phase six, so she knew they would wake up famished. 

“Who was that?” Terra asked.

“That’s Yune. This is his ship.”

“He looked mad.”

“He’s not so bad once you get to know him.”

“I don’t want to get to know him,” Terra stared at her food. “I want to go home.”

Her voice softened. “I know you do. You also know why you can’t right?”

She nodded. “Yeah.” It wasn’t even there anymore. It was an asteroid field. The memory of the recording remained clear. She didn’t want to voice it. There were only one thousand humans left from Earth. 

“Life isn’t going to be easy for you for a while, but try to make the most of it.” Selke smiled. She gestured down the hall. “There’s a couple of unused quarters you can use.” 

“We get a room?” Terra asked.

“Why wouldn’t you? This is your home, now. If you’re going to live here, you need your own space.” Selke waited for them to finish eating, and walked into the hall. 

They looked to each other with hesitation. The last person to say ‘this is your home now’ was Doctor Barakan. And now they were hearing the same thing from more strangers. They felt like lost items people just picked up and claimed. 

The two scooted out of the chairs and followed.

“I assume you’ll want to stay together for now.” Selke rounded the corner. “Pick one of these rooms, and we’ll clean it out.”

Terra glanced to Will then back. “Does it lock?”

“Yes.”

“Can we disable it?”

“Why?”

Terra and Will said nothing. 

Their silence screamed louder than words. This was another reason for her to hate what Runell and Chancellor Urza had done. “I’ll disable it.”

“At least they won’t have anywhere to ground us to,” Will mumbled under his breath to Terra.

“There’s no ground, though,” Terra whispered back.

“Don’t take it literally.” Selke called back. ”Besides, we have a holding cell for that.”

Both said in tandem, “A holding cell?”

Selke walked back into view and rested her hand on her hip. “We pick up bounties from time to time. Where do you think we keep them? The lounge?” She gestured for them to follow. “Come on. PIck a room and help me clean it up.”

The kids obeyed. Both decided on the room to the right. Yune had been utilizing all of the unused quarters as extra storage space, and they were packed with junk. The four of them spent the next couple of hours hauling out pieces of equipment, crates, boxes, and parts, and tossed them into the other vacant rooms. 

By the end of a standard day, their new personal space was clean and ready to be lived in. It offered up a full size bed up against the rectangular window. Thankfully, it was wide enough that the two small kids could comfortably fit side by side. 

Selke showed them how to wash up in a sonic shower - which Will was very vocal about hating, they ate something for dinner, and changed into their normal clothes from Earth. 

Once Selke was sure they’d been properly settled in, she left to assist Yune with the ship’s functions in the engine room. 

Terra sat in front of the wide viewport in the lounge, staring at the star lines streaking by. Her shoes set off to the side. She felt drained from the day, and still a little shaky from the residual effects of phase six. Whatever this one included, it had lasted longer than the others. 

She clenched her fist from a surge of energy that crawled over her skin, and pulled her knees up. This had been happening to her and Will off and on all day. They’d had to stop a few times to let it pass, and Selke had been very patient. Phase six kept making itself known in brief waves that were becoming less frequent. Every time one hit, she was afraid it would shoot back to its previous epic level where she thought she would die were it not for him. 

Part of her expected a scientist to come collect her for more tests, so she remained tense. Any second now, they would draw blood, or make her form an energy sphere and hold it for as long as possible until she failed. Or take her to the inclusion room for more tests, or deprive her of sleep to see how it affected the blue energy, or take her away from Will, or make her study Masakan history. 

A familiar sense moved up behind her and she relaxed.

Will sat down at her right, removed his shoes and wiggled his toes in his socks. Both had gone barefoot the entire time they were at Strafsend, and became used to it. “I found something that looks like cookies in the kitchen. Here,” he offered her one of the thick, brown disks. “The box had some funky writing on it, but it was with the rest of the food, and I saw Yune eat one earlier, so it should be ok. I ate one to be sure. I didn’t die.”

“Weird alien cookies?” She took it, sniffed it, and nibbled. It tasted like gingerbread. “It’s good.”

“Yeah,” he crunched on another one. “Living here might not be so bad.”

She wrapped her arms around herself. “It’s cold.”

“It’s space,” he shrugged, as if that explained everything. 

She stared out at the expanse and seemed distant, but he knew what plagued her. The same thoughts inflicted him as well. He hated seeing her like this.

“I keep thinking they’ll come get us, too,” he picked up on her worry. “I don’t want to go to sleep, ‘cause I might wake up and they’re gonna be over my bed again.”  

“Selke called me by my number when you were in the bathroom. She wanted to know my name. I told her. Then she said she was sorry. She used my name a lot. I hate that it sounds weird when someone else says it but you.” 

“Yeah. Yune only called me by my number once, too. It feels...weird, like my name belongs to someone else, now. I got used to being a number.”

She pursed her lips. Like him, she’d begun to get accustomed to being referred to as her One Thousand designation, and more readily responded to it. “I want mine to be normal again. I just want something to be normal again.”

“Well, we’re not normal anymore. But, what if we make our own normal? We’re out in the middle of nowhere. Literally,” he tried to cheer her up. “There’s no one else out here. We’re probably hundreds of light years away from the nearest Regent. They can’t find us anymore.”

“I know,” she pulled her knees up, ”so why am I still scared that they will?” 

“I don’t know,” he admitted to his own confusion at his emotions and reactions. He stared out at the stars. “We might be dreaming all this. That always happens during the inclusions. Our dream always feels real. If we are, I don’t want to wake up.”

She reached over and pinched him on the arm. 

“Ow!” He rubbed the sore spot. “Hey!”

“We’re not dreaming, you nerd,” she snapped him out of it. 

“Ok, ok,” he grumbled, but was grateful she’d shot down his theory completely. “I am glad I got to kick their butts before we left, though. That felt good.”

“That was really cool,” she agreed. “What are you gonna call that?”

He shrugged. “Danger Pulse? Electro Punch? Hyper Wave?”

“The Regent’s names were stupid,” She frowned. “‘Energy Sphere’ and ‘Threads’ were all they could come up with.”

“Lame,” he laid back to stare at the ceiling. It was mostly insulated save for a few depressions that held pipes and wires. “We can come up with something a hundred times better than that.”

“Like,” she thought,”Ultra Baseball.”

“I said a hundred times better, not a hundred times worse,”

She poked him in the ribs. He laughed and took it, knowing she would strike back at the joke, and he would do nothing to stop her. 

She finished the cookie. “I never thought I’d be living in space. After they abducted us, I thought we’d be on a planet in a house somewhere looking up at the sky trying to find Earth. It feels weird, like we really don’t have anywhere to belong anymore, so we’re just...here.”

He sat up.

“We were lied to, Will. I don’t know who to believe, or who’s right. I want to trust Yune and Selke, but I can’t. “ She held up her hand. “This is a gift to save the galaxy, but how do we do that? We’re just kids,” her fist closed and she hugged her knees. “I don’t even know what we are anymore. I can’t even remember my last name.”

“Neither can I, but… But we’re still us, I guess,” he shrugged. “We’re Will and Terra. We might be different, but we’re part of the One Thousand. We still came from Earth, so we’re gonna have that forever. And we’re always gonna have each other.” 

That helped her feel a little better. 

He got up and stood in front of the window facing the nebula. “I’m glad we’re not stuck on an alien planet. I’d be looking at the sky all the time if we were, wondering what’s out there. At least on a spaceship, we get to see it.”  

“We could...find other nebulas?” she tried seeing the future of his design.

“And other aliens.”

“But not scary ones.”

“And discover new planets.”

“And comets.”

“And we’ll name one after ourselves.”

“Maybe we can find the others. They’re out there, too.”

“We can look for them while we explore. We’ll all get a ship together and travel the galaxy going on adventures. We’ll search for hidden secrets, and relics, and get into awesome space battles...and be just like Space Indiana Jones.” For the first time since the news crew took them on a tour of the Nova Star, a spark of excitement lit in his eyes as his imagination exploded with dreams of a new life in space.  He looked over his shoulder at her and offered a smile. “We’ll explore the galaxy together. I won’t do it without you.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Good,” She smiled. “‘Cause I’m not gonna let you do it without me.” 

“And we pinky swore, remember?”

She remembered that moment clearly. “Yeah. You can never, ever break a pinky swear,” It was a promise she would hold dear. He was right. No matter where they were in the galaxy, as long as they were together, even on a rust bucket ship like the Horizon, they were home. 

A wash of dizziness accompanied by needles of pain took him back to the floor. 

She knelt in front of him in a heartbeat. Terra lifted his right hand and laced her fingers through his. He had always taken the phases harder than she did, but she didn't know why. Altairan energy drifted in thin lines to him, and he accepted the aid. This act came far more easily and automatic than it ever had in the past. She didn’t even have to think or try. It simply sensed her desire to bring him comfort and obeyed. 

The unseen Legos within him were rearranging themselves again. “I almost wish we were there, so they could tell us what’s happening.”

“Not me,” she shook her head lightly. “I never want to go back there again.”

His dizziness faded within moments. 

She’d figured out that, even though she could sustain her power longer than he could, the output in his was always greater. He had the strength, but not the finesse. “Let’s go find that planet with the rings. I want to know if it’s real.”

“Ok.” he promised. The wave settled back down and he relaxed. 

Will fished the Uno deck out of his jacket pocket. He moved to let go of her hand when it suddenly tightened around his. 

Phase six had struck her again, too. She bit her lip against it, but said nothing. 

She didn’t have to. He scooted slightly to the side with his arm crossing his body, and picked up a card with his free hand. “I’ll beat your score this time.”

“You say that every time and lose,” she picked one up, keeping hold of his right hand, and began their favorite game of flicking cards at a spot on the window. 

He flicked a card, but it sailed to the side.  “I should have used my right hand,” another card missed its mark, “I suck at the left.”

“Then let go,” she giggled at his excuse.

“Nah,” he answered calmly. He kept his fingers locked around her right hand until he was sure she would be ok. He knew his power output was greater than hers, so he had it to spare. Even if he didn’t, he still wouldn’t let go.

“Nerd,” she teased lightheartedly.

“Dorkface,” he teased back. He got up long enough to gather up the cards, then took her left hand this time and began the game again. Even with his dominant hand controlling the cards, he still lost. 

“Hey!” Yune’s voice carried from the kitchen. “What happened to all my cookies?!”

Both kids gave each other the dreaded ‘oh no’ look that they were caught. They quickly gathered up the cards, and barreled past him down the hall to the stairs leading to deck two. 

“You two!” He had to side step to keep from getting knocked over. “Stay outta my stuff!” He bellowed. Yune tossed the empty bag into the trash shoot, and went for his secondary stash hidden in the wall that not even Selke knew about. This ship was filled with hiding places, and he made good use of them. “I regret this decision already.”

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Location: Space...  
> *Reasoning: Author doesn't know where the hell they are. They're just in space. Use your imagination.
> 
> FUN FACT #13: Selke met 22 yr old Yune in a bar on Mikra. The vibe of him being at odds with himself drew her to start up a conversation. She could use a man of his skills on the team, regardless of his young age. 
> 
> Yune made his decision that night. He, Selke, Marci, and Zaf stole the ship that would be renamed the "Horizon" and Yune began his new life as an adventurer, explorer, and outlaw.
> 
> As of this chapter, Yune is 36.


	14. Modra Mohna

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years have passed since Will and Terra were rescued. With Selke off on a personal mission, Yune takes the kids to check out a large comet coasting leisurely through space in search of a rare mineral. However, their trip reveals an invisible danger that only Will and Terra can see.

###  ****

###  **Chapter 14**

 

_Two years later…Space, but somewhere else..._

 

Will sat sideways in the pilot’s seat with the music from Terra’s upgraded audio player blasting Smash Mouth’s ‘All Star’ through the cockpit.

He made the shape an ‘L’ on his forehead with one hand to go along with the lyrics as he tapped on the sensors to the rhythm to check the surrounding areas. Finding nothing interesting --that he could tell-- he went back to tapping his foot and rocking out to his favorite song.

The ship sailed along at sub light speed safely tailing a comet far enough above the wake to avoid getting hit by major debris. Automatic helm control was engaged. A while ago, he’d asked about how the ship remained damage-free during normal travel, so Yune had brought up the details on the operations station behind the copilot seat to show him the deflector array. It drew small amounts of power, so it could be left on constantly to guard against space dust and debris with the help of the hull plating. That calmed his overactive imagination that an asteroid fragment, or someone’s discarded beverage can would punch a hole through his room and suck him out into space. Death by space Pepsi.

Yune had told him to call him back from the engine room just in case something or someone showed up. So far, he’d been on guard duty for the past two hours, and it was just him and a panoramic view of the comet, it’s icy butt, and stars.

Selke had given Terra a new music player shortly after they called the Horizon ‘home,’ to replace her red CD player. The batteries had died while they were still in lab rat captivity in Strafsend. She’d kept the beat-up CD player with her stuff for nostalgic purposes. This unit was pocket-sized, had wireless earbuds, could be plugged into the ship’s computer, and had an Ephypsan battery cell that boasted a three year life span..

Since the standard year went by the Masakan Federation’s establish Galactic Standard Time, that also meant Will and Terra had lost track of when their birthdays were. So they picked the day that they were rescued from Strafsend as their combined birthday. They’d reached the age of ten again last month. According to Will’s math, if they were on Earth, they would be thirteen. They had been in Strafsend for the equivalent of one Earth year - long enough for them to lose their sense of time.

While he finger-drummed against the console in boredom, Terra whistled the song unheard as she took aim at targets painted on the cargo bay wall one deck below in the center of the ship. She fired off bind bolts from a pulse pistol Selke had given her as a birthday present - set with a lockout code to ‘bind’ until her skills improved. That, and she was still just a kid, regardless of her powers.

The red bolts struck the targets in various places, though all stayed within the three red rings spaced evenly apart. Bind blasts didn’t damage surface material.

It had only been one month, but both Selke and Yune were impressed at her accuracy - though it did need work. She’d told them she and Will would toss a blue sphere back and forth whenever they were allowed to play at the facility, and made a game of keeping it off the ground. They threw in tricks if they could. When they were in the Regents’ version of school learning the Masakan language - considered the universal language within Federation territory as a rebellious move against the Xox-- they would try to quickly sneak a finger sized version of the sphere back and forth as many times as they could before Doctor Malarei caught them.

In order to learn Masakan, their translators would be shut off. This was done by the verbal commands, ‘translator: off’ or ‘translator: on,’ but only they themselves could issue the commands, as the nanites were imbedded in their neural network and only responded to the voice that network belonged to. It could be shut off externally, though, with the right tool.

Both of their memories were hazy about the six months they spent there thanks to the drug they’d been put on constantly to keep them subdued, but a few moments of happiness like those stuck out like golden suns in a sea of sensory overload, fear, and confusion.

The song was strong enough in her mind that she could hear it very faintly as if it were playing from her earbuds. She wasn’t quite sure why that song suddenly got stuck in her head, but she didn’t question it. It was Will’s favorite, and she’d heard it a million times. She wondered what the band would think if they knew their music was being played on a starship hiding in the tail of a massive comet in the middle of deep space.

Will’s voice came over the cargo bay’s com. [Hey, Terra. Can you bring me a sandwich?]

“You’re closer. Get it yourself,” she fired another shot at the center target and grumbled when it struck the outer edge of the third ring.

[I’m still babysitting. I can’t leave the bridge unless I have to pee.]

“Then go pee.”

[I already used that excuse once. Come on, I’m hungry. Please?]

She aimed the gun at another target. “No, I’m doing a thing.”

[You’re shooting at a dumb wall.]

“How did you know? I just got here and didn’t tell you.”

[I heard it, you dork.]

“Liar. You can’t hear this.”

[Fine. I guessed. You’ve been obsessed with that gun ever since you got it. How come you got something cool, and I got jack shit.]

“For one, her name is Lucy. Also, Yune promised to give you real flying lessons. That’s not Jack shit, dip shit. That’s what you wanted for two years.” She clearly remembered multiple accounts of, ‘Can I fly the ship?’ and Yune’s taciturn reply, ‘No.’

[Come on, I’m gonna die up here! I thought you loved me.]

The gun lowered slightly to a ‘really, dude?’ side eye upwards toward the cockpit. “I do love you,” she fired off five more shots at the targets.

Will started fake crying in a dramatic way. [So you’re gonna let me starve. Alone. In space. With no one to comfort me but the cold arms of the abyss and the hot balls of gas burning billions of miles away.]

“Lion King references aren’t going to save you,” she retorted, holding her ground in the face of his antics. “But tell me you named that comet after us and I might get you a sandwich.”

He groaned. [It already had a name. C24-dash-V. I’m calling it the Vomit Comet.]

She laughed.

[If you don’t bring me food, I’m gonna make you feel this! Prepare to face my hangry wrath!]

“Our power doesn’t work that way, and you know it.” Silence was her only reply for a good ten seconds. “You’re trying, aren’t you.”

[...Maybe.]

She fired off six more shots at the targets.

[Did it work?]

“No. If that was something we could do, we’d know about it by now, so it’s not. Just go to the kitchen. I won’t tell Yune,” A very slight ping of concern lit in the back of her head. She knew it wasn’t hers. She’d felt it too many times. “The most he’ll do is ground you to the holding cell for an hour. What’s else is he gonna to do? Drop you off somewhere?”

[Don’t even joke about that.] He knew the tall Mik human had the power to change his mind any time, so Will hadn’t been able to let his guard down completely for two years, and Terra knew this.

“Sorry. Look, he’s in the engine room. Just go. He’ll never find out.”

His voice came across in a begging whine. [Please bring me a food thing, Terra. Please please please please please please please please please please please please please…]

“Ok! Ok, fine. I’m kinda hungry anyway. And no, it wasn’t because of you.” She holstered the gun. “Hey, what song are you listening to?” she asked as she ascended the metal stairs to the catwalk along the forward end of the bay.

[All Star. Why?]

“I heard it.” she grinned.

[Liar. You can’t hear this.]

Terra arrived a few minutes later with two halves of a sandwich and handed him one. He downed it in four bites.

She flopped into the copilot’s seat and munched.

The food came with a collection of other perishable supplies from the last spaceport they’d visited. The entire outpost was built into an asteroid. Sadly, Yune wouldn’t let either of the kids leave the ship, saying they needed to stand guard in case pirates attacked. Will and Terra knew it wasn’t because they could be scanned as Terrans. They were safe from being identified as part of the One Thousand. It was because he didn’t trust them to not screw up and accidentally show off their abilities.

Not being able to really let go kind of sucked. Both of them would get antsy from time to time and they didn’t know why.

Among the supplies were nutrient packets so the could create quick meals via the reformed food processor. It was never as good as anything Selke or Yune made by hand.

“I wish we could have explored that asteroid base. It looked so cool.”

“Yeah. It would have been an adventure,” she agreed. “So, what are you looking for?” She took a bite of the sandwich.

“Big red blips on the sensors. The comet is supposed to hide our engine signature or something.”

She didn’t spend half as much time in the bridge as Will did, so she leaned forward to view the controls. To her knowledge, Yune had patched all commands through to the pilot and copilot stations. “He wants us to look like a rock that fell off the comet’s butt?”

“Heh,” he grinned. “We’re butt nuggets.”

Both kids burst out into laughter.

She slouched down sideways into the chair and put her ankle boot up against the side window. At the same time, Will rested both heels on her seat so her head could rest on his legs between his shoes. Despite that fact that he was only four-foot-four - a mere one inch taller than he had been nearly three years ago -, the closeness of the two seats didn’t make this uncomfortable. Simple actions of just existing around each other like this was normal behavior for them.

“I wanna name the comet Steven,” she reached up to play with the thick strap over his black shoe.

“Why? Vomit Comet is a cool name. That’s what we named the car when we all went camping when I was nine - er… the first time I was nine”

“It’s protecting us, right?

“I mean, sure, I guess. It’s also throwing stuff at our deflector shields like it’s mad we’re on its bumper, but why Steven?”

“My dad’s name was Steven,” she said calmly.

“Oh. Ok,” he accepted and looked out the wide viewport at the icy blue rock lit by the stars. “Steven, it is.”

Terra’s smiled broadened like she’d found an adorable furry animal to hug. “Can we add your dad’s name?”

“Steven-Charlie? It sounds like the leader of a band, but sure,” he rocked his right foot slightly. “My dad would brag to all the guys at NASA if he knew he had a comet named after him.”

“Steven-Charlie it is, then!” She resecured his shoe and handed the rest of her sandwich up to him.

He stuffed it into his mouth and checked the long range sensors again. “You will name anything. Seriously. ‘Lucy?’”

“What’s wrong with Lucy?”

“Nothing,” He swallowed the food, “but you could have named it ‘Punisher,’ or ‘Death Bringer,’ or ‘Grim Reaper’ or something badass. Not that girl that tortured Charlie Brown.”

“Uch. Those are boys names. Lucy is mine, not yours, and she heard that. Apologize to her right now.”

“I’m not going to apologize to a gun.”

She looked up and gave him the biggest green puppy dog eyes she could manage.

He stopped rocking his foot and stared up at the ceiling. “No. No no, no no no,”

Still, she persisted.

Resisting that was like resisting being handed a full chocolate cake and being told it was his alone, and ok to dig into with abandon. “Fine.” That was a power move he could never combat. His apology came in a mumbled, “Sorry, Lucy.”

Terra gave a victorious smile like a queen. “Lucy forgives you.”

They sat in silence together watching Comet Steven-Charlie for a while as the music continued through the songs.

Will got up and she sat up at the same time.

“Now I really have to pee. You’re the babysitter.” The door slid open at the back of the bridge, and he walked out into the double wide hall. His light footfalls clanged against the metal.

She leaned her elbows over the back of the chair. “I never agreed to those terms!”

“Too late!” he called back.

She slumped down indignantly into the chair too big for her frame and crossed her arms. “You’d better behave yourself, Steven-Charlie.”

He came back a couple of minutes later and plopped down back into the pilot’s seat. “Anything?”

“Nope. We need to find a more exciting comet. How do you drive this thing?”

He let out a drawn out sigh of frustration. “I swear, he’s just got me doing this to keep me out of the engine room. I’m bored.” Will formed a small Altairan energy sphere between two fingers and tossed it to Terra. She caught it and tossed it back. They continued the game for a couple of minutes.

The com crackled to life. [How’s it looking out there, Sparky?] Yune asked.

Will fumbled to catch the sphere before it could hit the console. He knew he wasn’t allowed to use his power on the bridge. “Uh,” he caught it and exhaled. It absorbed back into his skin. Terra just smirked. “There’s nothing out here bigger than us and Steven-Charlie.”

[Steven-Charlie?]

“The comet.”

[Sounds like the leader of a band.]

Will gave Terra a ‘see? I told you so’ hand gesture.

[What happened to Vomit Comet?]

“Overruled.”

[Awe. I liked Vomit Comet. Ok, I’m on my way back] He hung up and headed up to deck two - the command deck.

Moments later, Yune’s large hand planted down on top of Will’s shaggy hair. “You’re in my seat.”

Will cringed, knowing instantly he was in trouble. He vacated the spot like he would avoid branding if he moved fast enough.

Yune slid comfortably into his chair and turned off the music. “Buckle up. We’re going shopping.”

Will squeezed in next to Terra, as both were small enough to fit. They put the belt across their waists and managed to get the Y strap over them both. “What do you mean shopping?”

“We’re in the middle of nowhere,” Terra finished his thought.

Yune powered up the engines. “Steven-Charlie has a pretty good mineral shop I want to check out.”

Both kids’ eyes widened comically. “You’re gonna land on it?!” they exclaimed in tandem.

“Isn’t that dangerous?” Terra said. “You can’t land on a comet!”

“Extremely,” Yune said casually as he activated the main shields, “and yes, I can. This one’s big enough.”

“Why can’t we just go to another outpost?” Will asked.

“Another outpost isn’t going to have what we need. Besides. This is more fun.” Yune moved the ship as close to the head of the comet as he could, and angled down into its tail.

To say the ride was bumpy would be a complete lack of accuracy. Even with the inertial dampeners, the ship rattled and  jostled and rocked as Yune wove between the chunks of debris. Jets of ice scraped along the shields.

The Horizon dropped through the evaporating cloud of water as it matched the rotation of the comet. It bucked sideways, avoiding a near collision that made Terra cover her eyes and Will scream.

Yune flew between spears of rock jutting out from the surface and landed his ship in a narrow flat zone. Cracks of dark rock needled upward from the comet’s surface like rusty nails, menacing, dangerous, and sharp.

The kids looked like they’d watched their short lives flash before their eyes.

“There. See? Told you I could land this thing on a ...what was that Terran phrase?”

“A dime,” Will’s voice trembled.

Yune puffed up with pride.

Will blinked, still tense. “I might need to change my underwear.”

“Ew,” Terra unbuckled the straps and scrambled out of the seat.

“We almost died.”

“You’re exaggerating,” Yune waved it off. “We were almost to ‘almost.’” He got up and headed down to deck one - the engineering deck. The docking bay was a half level beneath that in the center. The kids followed out of curiosity.

“I want to come with you,” Will ran ahead.

“Let me see…” Yune pulled a collection of metallic straps from a locker in the storage alcove and began securing them around his elbows, knees, waist, neck, and ankles,”...dangerous, atmosphere-less comet, extremely little-to-no gravity, and a high possibility of death at every turn. Um… How about ‘no.’”

“Selke’s already gonna kill you for landing on a comet with us on board,” Will argued.

“Selke’s not going to find out about this. When we rendezvous with her next week, you’re going to keep your little traps shut. Got that?” He clicked buttons on each ring. Blue lights from Ephypsan energy cells glowed from the button points. Tech burst out of them to connect to each other in a silver and blue body-hugging space suit that still allowed the wearer freedom of movement.

A mischievous smirk crept over Will’s impish face. “And what’ll happen if I don’t?”

He pointed to Will, and gave the most strict order he could verbally convey. “Stay on the bridge and keep an eye out for big red blips.”

The smile vanished. “But--”

“No ‘buts.’ Just blips. That’s all I want to hear about. Do as I say for once.”

“But what if you run into pirates, or marauders, or huge, massive aliens with shark teeth that’ll chew you to pieces?”

“There’s no Nagurak here. They’re aquatic, and actually docile.”

That threw him off and terrified him simultaneously. “Wait, those exist?”

“Relax. Nothing can live on a comet, except maybe bacteria in the ice, ...and Marci. I can handle the rock down here. It’s what’s out there,” he pointed upward, “that has me worried. I need you to be my eyes, Will. Can I count on you?”

“But I wanna--”

“Can I count on you?”

Will frowned. He’d really wanted to explore the surface of the comet. Begrudgingly, he answered, “Yeah.”

“Good kid. Terra,” he grabbed a square, empty sample case, opened the door to the docking bay and stepped over the threshold, “Make sure your other half stays there.”

“What?” Will’s jaw dropped at the betrayal. “That’s not fair!”

“Roger!” Terra gave a standard Earth salute that didn't exist anywhere else in the galaxy.

”You don’t trust me?”

Yune strapped a laser cutter to his left thigh, then faced them. “Oh, no, I trust you, Sparky. That’s not in question.” He clicked the ring around his neck so it gathered up over his head in a helmet with a transparent faceplate that extended over half of his head so his full field of vision wouldn’t be hindered. “I just trust your other half to be more responsible.” And with a smarmy grin, he closed the door, and depressurised the bay so he could lower the ramp. All of the crates therein were anchored to the floor by powerful magnets. This wasn’t the first time he’d had to open the back door to the vacuum of space.

Will clenched his fist and ground his teeth. Altairan energy crackled across his knuckles in response to his rage.

Terra simply smiled and hummed a bouncy tune back up to the bridge, happy at being the most responsible one. “Heehee. I win.”

“Shut up,” he trudged angrily back to his post. He flopped into the pilot’s seat just because he wasn’t allowed to sit there, turned the music back on, and folded his arms indignantly.  

Yune moon-hopped slowly across the knobby surface. His mag boots kept him from flying out into the cosmos with each leap. According to the datadot - the handheld scanner -, this massive rock was comprised of nickel, iron, other various metals, iice, and frozen methane, carbon dioxide, and anomia. Standard comet stuff. It also contained one unique element extremely hard to come by: Amoradite.

Amoradite was a rare, prized gemstone only formed on comets.

This one was already on the radar of multiple mining corporations, and in the eyes of pirates looking for not-so-easy-but-rare ways to make money. Hence, why he needed Will to keep a sharp eye out for any unexpected company, and why they’d bumper-humped this celestial spinning rock for a full day.

It’s size made Yune wonder if it could easily have been part of a planetary collision and drifted through space for millions of years. Or, it could be part of Ephypso. The planet itself was an asteroid field, but in the explosion, chunks of it blew off into space.

He only thought of this because of the two kids back on the Horizon. This could easily be part of the planet, Terra, if they or any of the One Thousand ever returned. His knowledge of Ephypso, the past two years living with Selke and the kids, and helping them work through the mysteries of their Altairan abilities, were what lead him to seek out a comet of this size for amoradite in the first place.

The farther he wandered from the ship, the more he began to realize no one had set up a mining facility at all. This comet was already named, its path tracked, and it was a known stellar object. In fact, it was due to pass through the Masakan system in eight years. The people of Masaka would have a pretty view for about a week. He should have come across evidence of a mining operation by now - even an old one.

The datadot beeped repeatedly, telling him it detected his prize close by. “Yes.” He drifted down into a ravine and landed smoothly in the grey dust at the bottom. Plums of it billowed up into space. Before him rested the treasure he’d come to find, and it didn’t disappoint.

A sea of hundreds of clusters of crimson Amoradrite glimmered in the starlight. “Jackpot.” This was going to be easier. He knelt, removed the laser cutter, and began carving into the iron ore.

Will leaned on his fist watching through the viewport. So far the scanners showed nothing. He pulled up his hair into a shark fin spike in boredom, and wondered if the Nagurak had fins. Despite the frightening idea of them, he wanted to see one.

A faint, small mass with a sickly-green hue appeared for a few seconds on the surface, then vanished.

“Hm?” he sat up. Curious, he focused on the flat area immediately in front of the viewport. The bridge was at the far forward end of the bow with the rest of the ship stretching out behind it like a slim, but chunky arrow that ended in large quad engines. Two sets of thrusters flanked the ship to allow for movement in any direction.

He blinked. Three more greenish masses appeared again. “What the… Hey,” he leaned over to tap Terra on the arm, “did you see that?”

“See what?” She was stuck on duty and just as bored. She focused, but nothing appeared. “I don’t see anything. You’re seriously bored.”

“I’m not that bored yet… Wait! There it is again! It was a whole bunch of ‘em that time.” He shut the music off, flicked a switch to his right, and tapped on the console. The lights faded out within the cockpit, leaving them bathed in the blue glow of the ship’s controls, and the haunting light of the stars.

Both stared out the window in silence. They communicated without words that they needed to focus.

A flash of movement caught in Terra’s peripheral to the right. Now she was curious.

Will concentrated on the visual memory of the objects, squinting slightly as he lasered in to bring them into view.

He wished he hadn’t.

Dozens of green blob-like masses phased into sight. They slimed up from cracks in the rocks by tendrils formed from their bodies. They oozed down the sharp pillars. They glowed like cylumes in the night.

“What are those things?” Terra narrowed her eyes in curiosity. “I thought Yune said nothing can live on a comet,”  

“Nothing can. There’s no atmosphere.” He checked the console. “The sensors aren’t picking up anything out there alive except Yune.”

“So these things are dead?”

“Unless they’re zombies, but even then we should be detecting them. They must be something not programmed into the computer yet. Something the ship’s never encountered before,” a small grin tugged at the edge of his lips. “A new life form.”

Every last one of them were slowly slorping toward the ravine.

“They’ll be at Yune’s position soon. We have to warn him.”

Terra opened a channel to their adopted uncle’s com unit. “Yune, are you there?”

[Go for Yune.]

“There’s a big bunch of boogers heading your way.”

“Boogers?” Yune paused in cutting through the ore. He already had one chunk of amoradite in the sample case. “What?”

“Boogers,” Will said. “Ya know, slimy, green, glowing snot wads. They’ll be in sight any second. There’s a ton of them.”

Yune looked around for any sign of an approaching threat, readying his pulse pistol just in case. Nothing matching the mucusy description - or anything else for that matter - revealed itself. He went back to work. “I get that you guys are bored, but try not to make up stories while I’m out here. This is nerve-wracking enough.”

Terra took up defense. “We’re not making this up.”

“Remember what I said about bacteria and Marci?”

“Then this is really big bacteria, and I’m sure this isn’t Marci” Will came back.

“You’re probably seeing reflected light.”

“Light doesn't reflect like this,” Will argued.

“Or make tentacles out of itself,” Terra interjected.

Yune buzzed his lips in exasperation. “We need to talk about the shows you guys are watching.”

“You watch the same shows, and ‘Three Moons to Midnight’ hasn’t had octobooger aliens on it yet,” Will defended himself.

“Listen, there’s nothing out here but me and the dust. Call me when you see red blips.”

“But--”

“Red. Blips.”

Will cursed in exasperation as the com cut, and bolted out of the seat.

Terra picked up his intent through their bond and gasped. ”Will, no! You can’t!”

“I have to help him.” He put on a spare suit from a locker and attached a com node to the back of his ear. “He’s gonna need me if those boogers are hostile. Stay here.” He clicked the helmet on, made sure his mag boots were functioning, and entered the anti chamber of the airlock. He couldn’t open the door to the cargo bay since it was already exposed to space. The door sealed. He activated the helmet, took a deep breath, depressurised the chamber, and opened the outer hatch. Will stood at the edge looking down.  

[You’ve never been out in space before!] Terra’s heart pounded.

“It can’t be much different from our dreams of the In Between. Besides, it’s a comet. Not actual space. But, uh... stay on the line anyway.”

“Ok.” She bit her lip. “Be careful.” Terra pushed hair out of her eyes and returned to the bridge. She watched the amount of Blobs increase. “I take it back. This isn’t Steven-Charlie. It’s definitely Vomit Comet.”

“I win,” he tried to be light hearted.

Will dropped to the surface gently. The moment his feet touched the dust-covered rock, a jolt of adrenaline shot through his heart. He was actually in space - sort of - in a suit, with the real possibility of being launched out into the abyss. He swallowed hard. He could do this. Just one step at a time, and he’ll be fine. He moved like he was treading across eggshells.

A group of the green glowing masses stopped, seemed to ‘look’ at him, and altered their path. The sound the growing horde made resembled a mix between throwing slime against a wall, and hundreds of goose feet lazily slapping against pavement.

He moved to avoid them, but they’d locked onto his position. He kept his eyes on them and hopped very slowly backwards. His third hop felt heavy and he looked down.

One of them had wrapped its gelatinous body around his right ankle. “Ah!” Afraid, he pulled at it, but it felt glued to his body. He began to panic, grasping at it with both hands. Tendrils leached from it in an attempt to coil around them as well.

Will summoned his strength in terror and desperation. Altairan energy instantly crackled to life -around the suit gloves -it’s form mirroring his emotions. He sent it into the green hazy-lit creature. The green blob spasmed as the energy coursed through it like lightning, its illumination faded, and it dropped to the ground, becoming a lifeless gray lump.

He’d killed it.

The heaviness he felt lifted, not just from the weight of it trying to hold him down, but the way it made him feel, like it was feeding on him.

“Will, are you ok?” She’d heard his scream. She’d also felt a spike in terror that she’d recognized from the times when he would be put into the sensory deprivation chamber, and she was kept across the compound in another room so the scientists could study their bond.

“I’m - I’m ok. I’m alright,” he repeated. He swallowed and grit his teeth to push back the fear. “Guard the ship. These things hate our power. Don’t let any of them on board and don’t let ‘em touch you. They make you feel really tired.” He leaped high to avoid the reach of more booger blobs.

“Huh? Oh man,” Terra hurried down to the engineering deck and put on a spare suit. The ship only had six just in case any were damaged. She left through the airlock, pausing at the edge. Biting her lip, she hopped down and landed on the dirt. She moved slowly, hugging the ship until she reached the ramp, trembling, and bolted up into the cargo bay. Happy to back in the ship, she stood at the top of the ramp, and gasped at the sight before her.

The majority of the mass was far ahead. These were the stragglers coming for the ship. Even so, she saw more on the comet’s horizon. And most of them were heading for Will and Yune.

Her stomach dropped. “Oh no...”

Will bounded as fast as he awkwardly could toward Yune. If his parents knew what he was doing, they would ground him for the rest of his life. Now that he knew what these things did - drain you of energy and probably life - In order to stay calm, he employed a secret tactic. He began to sing.

Terra listened to his higher pitched voice shakily sing ‘Hakuna Matata.’ She softly sang along, letting it calm her as well and give her bravery. It worked.

 

A second fist-sized chunk of the precious red gem freed from the rock. This was all he’d need to accomplish his goal. Yune broke off a third the same size for future security and tucked them into the sample case. He stood. “Got it. I’m on my way back.” He leaped up, deactivating his mag boots momentarily to get the height he needed to reach the top of the ravine.

His ascent was more sluggish than it should be. He engaged the boots and landed back on a shelf three meters from the surface. The tech must be malfunctioning.

Something glittering caught his eye.

Yune moved cautiously around the lip of the shelf, skirting perilously along the edge until the item came into view.

He froze.

A humanoid form wrapped in a baggy older generation space suit crumpled on the ledge. Its bony fingers stilled in a permanent pose grasping for the stars. The emaciated corpse was surrounded by abundant, rich deposits of amoradite.

This put his senses on high alert. He looked around, but didn’t see evidence of a firefight. It was as if this person had simply given up. Yune had seen his fair share of bodies in his life, but this one rose to the top five of ‘creepiest mystery corpses.’

“Hey. One of you maybe wanna scan through the file and look for another name for this comet?”

Terra pulled up the file on the control panel in the bay and speed read, looking for anything that resembled a name. “Found something. ‘Modra Mohna.’ What does that mean?”

Yune’s face paled. “Death Trap.” He looked around frantically, but saw nothing but rock, dust, more rock, and ice. There was no clear present sign of danger. Nothing to warrant a nightmarish label like that.

He disengaged the boots and leap back toward the top of the ravine. He was forced to land on a small rock outcropping and caught his breath. He shouldn’t be tired.

Terra’s voice played in his ear. [Will is on his way to help.]

“No. Absolutely not! Will, you get your ass back on that ship immediately!”

Will stopped singing, but didn’t answer him. He didn’t need to get into an argument right now. He needed to reach Yune.

“Will!” Yune leaped up one more time, and landed heavily at the top of the ravine. He landed in a crouch and pushed himself up. His arms and legs felt laden. Moving his feet became more cumbersome with each step. He slogged forward until he felt like he was pulling lead compression blocks chained to his ankles through knee-deep mud. He panted to catch his breath again, and let his burning thighs rest. “What the hell?” There was no way the comet could begin randomly creating immense gravity. And yet here he was.

He dropped to all fours like a moon pressed onto his back. His eyelids drooped heavily, and he felt draggy as though he hadn’t slept in a week.

A blast of blue light flared up ahead. Yune forced his vision to clear.  

A sphere the size of a baseball shot out of Will’s hand into the ground. It sent streaks of energy up into the sky. Will landed, stumbled, and jumped toward him again.

“Get...back... to the ship,” Yune demanded. His strength was failing him, and he wanted more and more to lie down for a nap. “The fuck are you shooting at?”

“Green,” Will formed another sphere and released it to Yune’s right, “blobby,” another blast impacted the dirt, ‘life-sucking, boogers. They’re everywhere.”

Had the boy gone space mad? There was nothing but rock, dust, ice, and Will and that was it. And yet Will clearly demonstrate the posture of someone defending themselves from a 360 degree attack.

Will thought he’d see one or two stuck to Yune, but when he rounded a boulder to reach the Mik’s position. He was wrong.

Yune was covered from head to toe in so many blobs, that they’d formed a gooey shell around his body. He looked like a monster had sneezed and used him as the tissue.

Will knelt down to touch the slime. Part of it pulled toward him like it was attracted to a magnet. He jerked away before it could latch on and start sucking his life out. “Gross. You’re covered in a giant loogie. they’re all over you.” He wanted to get away from these things as fast as possible. They creeped him out.

“What are you talking about?” Yune’s speech slurred, sounding more drunk. “There’s nothing...here...“ His eyes closed. “I’ll take...a nap. Come back...later.”

“You can’t take a nap!” Will glanced around. “They’re everywhere!” They were surrounded, and closing in. “How do you not see this?!”

.”Get...back...to the...ship...”

“I’m not leaving you. Indiana Jones wouldn’t leave anyone behind. He was a hero, and an adventurer, and super awesome.” Will needed to get the older man out of this fast. Desperate, he grabbed at the creature layer and pulled. Part of it ripped off the mass and wrapped around his hands. He charged up his arms in a brief burst, tearing it apart. The creature dripped to the ground. He pulled at more of the goop. “And you’re like space Indiana Jones.”

Will had to spin to take out a blob that got too close. That gave him an idea of what he needed to do. Yune wouldn’t like his plan. “I’m sorry in advance. I’ve never done this, but I have to get these things off you. It might hurt.”

Yune had lost all ability and volition to move or reply.

Will gathered his bravery, flexed his fingers, and shoved both of his hands into the goo.

It began to morph up his arms greedily for the new source of ‘food.’

His energy instantly started to slowly drain. Will grit his teeth against it. Not yet...not yet...

One of the tests the scientists of Strafsend would conduct on him was how strong a surge he could create. The most potent one took out the power in the fourth quadrant for a full five minutes. He needed to recreate that here. _Don’t hurt Yune,_ he thought. He pulled the Altairan energy from his center, his heart, and pushed all of it through his arms and hands. It seemed to read his desire, and instructions, and shot through the creatures encasing Yune. Despite his attempts to control it, threads of that energy went wild and coursed through the Mik human’s body.

The green illuminated masses began to fade in color and drop away.

Yune stiffened. Will was right. It hurt. He cried out as his vision turned blue from the Altairan energy surging through his system. In that moment, the terrain, Will, and the parts of his own body he could see were riddled with amorphous, shifting, light-jade-hued creatures that created their own luminescence. They were no longer invisible. Because of the Altairan energy, he could see them.

Whatever they were, they existed on a plane not visible on the normal light spectrum to basic humans.

The last of the gelatinous casing released its prey. The weights holding him down lifted. Yune got to his knees, feeling his strength gradually return. “I... owe you an apology.”

Will helped him to his feet.

Though he couldn’t see them anymore, judging by the way the boy turned in a full circle, they were surrounded.

Will started hyperventilating. “They’re everywhere. There's too many. They’re...they’re… Yune, I can’t stop them all. I can’t… I…”

“Hey,” Yune cupped the kid’s helmet. “Listen to me. Will. Look at me,” He shared sharply into the boy’s brown eyes. “Calm down and breathe. Right now, you’re our ticket back home, so you need to hold it together. We’ll be alright. Got it?”

Will nodded and did his best to push his fear back.  

[Will!] Terra’s voice came over the com. [They’re getting in the ship!]

She snapped him out of it. They were after Terra. He needed to get back to her as soon as possible. “Then get them out of the ship!”

[I am! There’s a lot of them, ok?! Get your butt back here!]

Her trembling hand rested on the weapon at her thigh, though she paused. He’d said these creature hated their power. Scared, she raised her right arm toward the ones encroaching up the ramp, like they could smell her. She formed a sphere, felt the power pull from her center down her arm, and let the energy fly at the closest group. They fizzled and turned grey. More oozed over the bodies of the fallen. “Eeeww!” she stomped her feet. “Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!”

Will had nowhere to run. There were too many of them. They didn’t move very fast, but their sheer numbers meant they didn’t have to. No amount of jumping could clear this horde. Yune’s energy remained low, and he couldn’t transfer any of his to his uncle like he could to Terra.

Desperate, Will forced himself to remember how to use a skill he hadn’t summoned since the day he was rescued from Masaka. He thought of the lab, of Earth, the nukes going off all over the planet’s surface, of his parents in the snow, and the moment Doctor Barakan told him he’d lost everything, including his name - when all he had left was Terra. He let those memories build along with the power within him, and at the moment he felt he would catch fire from it, he let go of Yune, dropped to the ground, and released it.

A shock wave burst from his body and swept across the ground, up the rocks, and out like a bubble bursting from too much pressure.

The wave swept harmlessly through Yune, obeying the command not to harm him.

The creatures lives snuffed out as the pulse struck them. Their lifeless bodies blanketed the dirt.

Will’s arms trembled, weak from the exertion, but nothing like his first attempt while under the influence of the Inclusion process of phase six. This was manageable.

Yune pulled him to his feet. He didn’t see the aftermath of the pulse wave, but he didn’t need to. Will’s state was enough to let him know it was effective. “I keep forgetting you can do that.”

“Am I still in trouble?” he mumbled.

He picked up the sample case. “Oh yeah.”

“Dammit.”

“Language.”

Will forced strength into his legs. The two hurried back to the ship.

All Yune saw was burst after burst of blue energy spheres impacting the ground, but Will saw hundreds coming at them. The core of this comet was infested, and their presence woke up all of them.

[Will, I can’t hold them! There are Snot Wads everywhere!]

“We’re almost there!” Summoning everything he could, Will cleared a path. He and Yune ran inside the ship and Yune slammed his palm on the controls to close the bay door.

Terra and Will remained taking pot shots at the creatures that clung to the ramp until it closed. They shifted their attacks on any that made it inside.

Will yanked one off of Yune’s back. It cupped around his hand. He sent rays of blue energy coursing through it and it plopped to the floor.

Yune repressurised the bay and filled it with atmosphere. He glanced to the two kids back to back with their left hands clasped to feed each other power. He’d read in the report that they could use each other in this manner, but he’d never witnessed it first hand. They sent energy spheres striking down at thin air. “Don’t punch any holes in the hull.”

He dashed to the cockpit, fired up the thrusters, and lifted off the cursed comet. He piloted the Horizon away through the ice and debris with only minor hits to the shields until they cleared the object completely.

Once free, he leaned back in exhaustion. “No wonder no one’s mined that thing. No one could survive long enough.” If he saw one body, there must be more that he’d missed from various attempts to extract the amoradite. Those poor souls never had a chance.

He clicked open the case and removed one of the ruby-red, priceless gems and looked it over. Obtaining this had almost required the ultimate payment. Plus, he’d put the lives of two of the One Thousand, and the only two Altair/Human hybrids in the galaxy at risk for it. If he’d died out there, Will and Terra would have been stranded until they figured out how to fly the ship, or they were overwhelmed by those creatures.

Still, whether he wanted to admit it or not, Will had saved his life.

The most he could do was try to save someone else's.

Yune programmed a message into a beacon, and jettisoned it at the comet. It successfully stabbed into the surface.

[DANGER. DO NOT APPROACH. MODRA MOHNA. BEWARE OF INVISIBLE LIFE DRAINING SNOT WADS. JUST TRUST ME]

Hopefully, others would head the warning. If not, they would die unless they had an Altairan, or someone who could see creatures living in an alternate visual spectrum. And that seemed highly unlikely. However, someone may have in the past in order to deem this ‘modra mona’ in the first place. Or they were just lucky and got away.

To the outside world, Will and Terra stood back-to-back in the vacant central space of the cargo bay.

To them, they stood amid the bodies of dozens of life-sucking aliens that littered the entire floor, and strewn over supply crates.

Yune returned to the bay to find the two silently carrying the invisible bodies to the garbage disposal. Terra looked like she was handling a dirty baby diaper. Will looked like he would drop from exhaustion, and didn’t seem to care that he carried armfuls of them at a time.

Both stopped when Yune walked down the steps.

“William Eric Kade.” His commanding voice boomed through the bay.

“Oo,” Terra grimaced. “All three names. You’re dead.”

Will cringed like he was about to receive corporal punishment. He dropped the bodies down the shoot and turned to face the music.

Yune rested his hand on Terra’s head in parental approval. “Terra, good job protecting the ship.”

“Thanks,” She smiled wearily up at him. “That was horrible. I never wanna do that again.”

He understood. His attention turned to Will. “As for you,” he stepped up to the boy and looked down with a frown. “What you did was reckless, and stupid. Do you have any idea what kind of risk you put yourself in? For you and Terra?”

Will stared at his feet.

He gripped his shoulders. The boy didn’t fight back. “What were you thinking? What if you couldn’t reach me? What if you’d been hurt out there and those things got you? They drain life energy.” He lifted Will’s hand. “This is like a buffet to them. You could have died! If I tell you to stay on the ship, you _stay_ on the ship.”

“You would have died,” Will mumbled.

“That doesn’t matter!”

“It matters to me”

“You have to stay alive!”

“So do you!” Will shot back, yanking his hand away and looking up fearlessly.

Yune’s outburst was brought on more by the fear of losing either of these kids personally rather than simply their importance to the galaxy. They weren’t just rare hybrids, or bringers of a promised far future. They were family. Somehow, both of them had broken through the barrier he kept up to keep people out. He loved them.

Yune held a stare-off with the boy for a good five seconds. Without warning, he pulled the boy forward and hugged him tightly.

Will stiffened. This was a highly unusual move for Yune.

He let him go and softened his voice. “You saved my life. I owe you one, Sparky.”

“Really?” Will blinked. “Does this mean I’m--”

“Nope. You’re still grounded for disobeying me.”

Will resigned to a fate locked in the holding cell for an hour. ‘Grounding’ meant he wasn’t just sent to his room, because he had stuff to do in his room, and that defeated the purpose of the punishment. The holding cell was a small, three-walled fortified room forward from the cargo hold and tucked into the bow portion of the ship between spare supply closets. It had a medium sized window facing forward, a single bunk against the port side, a toilet that extended out of the wall by way of a single control button, and no door. The fourth wall entrance was the only force field operational on the ship. It was Masakan technology installed by Yune. Two years ago, he had spent effort and resources to make sure the kids’ power couldn’t penetrate that field or damage the walls. It turned out to come in handy for the few bounties he’d picked up afterward.

The last time Terra was grounded a week ago, Will had stood on the other side with his arms folded and smirking at her with a ‘heh’ for not getting away with her cookie-thieving plan. She hadn’t taken his idea, and that’s why she got caught. Terra had grumped and told him to shut up.

“Fine.” He bent down and picked up an invisible blob body. “As long as I don’t lose anyone else, I’ll stay there as long as you want.” He and Terra might be important to the galaxy, but Yune was important to him.

He wasn’t prepared for such a mature response, but he nodded sternly. “Just, uh, make sure none of them are left, ok?”

“Ok,” Terra answered for them both.

“Will,” he caught him as the boy dumped another invisible alien down the shoot. “You did good back there.”

Will accepted the praise with a faint smile, but was too tired to speak.

Yune noticed his slouching posture, shuffling feet, and exhaustion, and sent final instructions. “Go to the core chamber once you’re done. Both of you stay there for about five minutes, then come to the bridge.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Just do it.” He left to set the ship into FTL.

Will and Terra went back to cleaning up and double checking the cargo bay for any stragglers.

Yune never made good on his promise of punishment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *photo is a high res image of the Hale-Bop comet.
> 
> FUN FACT #14: The Altairan DNA slowed Will and Terra's aging process to match that of the Altair - who lived far longer than the Masaki. That's why Terra is now 4'3" - one inch taller than when she was abducted - and Will only grew one inch in that time be 4'4" even though he would be 13 on earth, and already hit 5'6" had he stayed on the planet. Terra would be 5'3" by now. They're going to be short for a while before they hit their growth spurts.
> 
> Of course, no one knows this, because there's no other Altair to talk to.


	15. A Lunar Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Horizon makes a stop at a lunar colony so Yune can visit an old friend with a request, and the trio meet up with Selke.

###  **Chapter 15**

_One week later…The Phellosian System_

 

The Horizon descended through the retracted doors of docking bay Four of the Karuus lunar colony orbiting Phellosa, an aquamarine gas giant. This was the largest of six moons. Three of them were no more than glorified asteroids caught in orbit. Those were used for mining.

The ship connected to the umbilical airlock tube jutting out from the tall, broad structure built in honeycomb patches around a central hub. Various robots moved through the vast area between parked vessels. A few alien and human bay employees in space suits worked with and around them.

Yune, Will, and Terra stood outside the airlock within the ship at the rear port side on deck two. The kids squirmed for freedom. “Remember, we’re here to meet a guy I know, take care of some things, and then go. Sparky, Squeaker, you know the rules,” he addressed the young kids itching to go exploring.

“Yeah, we know,” Will huffed impatiently.

“Repeat it back.”

Will recounted en rote. “No talking about Earth...er...Terra,” He had to remember no one else except for the natives referred to their home planet by that name, “no mention of the One Thousand, and keep our power under wraps.”

“Good.”

They’d visited other worlds, outposts, and starports before, but lately they were getting cabin fever. Over the past two years, he’d learned that this was a sign to find somewhere to let them run and ‘let loose.’ He’d found out the hard way when they’d had too much pent up energy. The engines were down for an hour, they were on backup power for three, and before then, the kids had been bouncing off the walls.

Mik were happy to live their lives in space, but the other human species weren’t as content. And Terrans hadn’t even built their own lunar colony yet. As far as stellar experience went, Terrans were at the ‘match the shape to the corresponding hole’ stage.

“Ok, ok, we know what to do!” Terra bounced on the balls of her feet. “Can we just go now, please? We wanna see the colony!”

Yune pressed the door control to open the hatch once the connection sealed. The kids shot down the tube like torpedoes. “Don’t run off!” He locked down access to his ship from a small remote in his pocket, and headed down the hallway.

It let them out into a massive hexagon-shaped central hub.

Will and Terra ran through a wide circular scanner without thought and up to the balcony railing. “Wow! Look at this place!” Terra gasped.

“It’s huge!” Will stared, awestruck.

Yune passed through the scanner casually, glancing to the attendant who scratched its bald head in confusion. The four short, yellow/orange scalp tentacles moved to express that confusion. Evidently it couldn’t see what species of Human the two kids hailed from. It tapped the screen in an engineering 101 attempt to fix it. Yune’s, scan came through clearly as being a Mik Human. The kids, however, remained a mystery. The attendant passed if off as a glitch. They were human, so if they weren’t Terran, nothing else mattered.

Yune exhaled lightly. Thank all the gods in the universe that it didn’t detect the Altair DNA.

The geodesic domed structure consisted of eight floors of businesses and residential blocks open to the hexagonal center and extending outward via rays to the rest of the colony. Escalators carried passengers from different levels to the six points, and laced through the middle like spider webbing. Billboard screens flashed advertisements, news reports, and weather shifts on the gas giant, except for the one large screen behind them that showed the schedules of different transports arriving and departing from docking bay Four.

The most impressive and permanent sight dwarfed all others. Phellosa’s bulbous orb filled most of the view above the dome. It cast pale blue light from its watercolor swirled atmosphere all the way through to the ground floor.

“This is so cool!” Will gawked at all the people in exotic clothing. Some alien races he’d never seen before moved all around them, propelled by anything from one to four legs, and some using personal hoverlifts. “Look at all these aliens!”

Yune planted his hand on top of the short kid’s mop of shaggy dark hair. “Try not to look like you grew up on a farm, Sparky.”

Will looked up at him. “I did grow up on a farm.”

“You know what I mean.”

Terra squealed at the excitement of being somewhere new. “It looks just like a mall! I wanna go shopping! Do they have a toy store here? How many stores can they fit in here? Is there an indoor playground? How many floors are there? Do people live here?” She leaned over the railing. “It goes all the way into the ground! This is the biggest mall I’ve ever seen! And I grew up in the city.”

What caught Yune’s attention personally lay to their immediate right mere steps away from the docking bay entrance. It wasn’t so much the emo, bored, blue-skinned, teenage girl slouched on a counter with her hand supporting her chin, but the establishment that counter belonged to.

Various coffee machines lined both the front and back area beneath a sign that read ‘Darkmatter’ in Masakan. A smaller sign on top of the machines read ‘Little Kat Coffee’ around the company’s feline-faced insignia.’ Bags of Darkmatter brand coffee grounds, beans, and retail items for purchase lined the shelf behind her below a menu of drink options and food - also written in Masakan. The O’alli girl clearly looked annoyed and ready to be anywhere else but at work.

“They put in a Darkmatter? Yes!” Happy, Yune pulled a Federation mark chip out of his pocket and hurried up to the counter. Will and Terra followed. “You guys want anything?”

“We _want_ to see the colony. Come on, let’s go,” Will pulled on Yune’s hand insisted indignantly.

“Hold on. Gimme five minutes.”

Will and Terra huffed in impatience. Grown ups and their coffee. He would never understand.

The girl barely registered their existence. She lazily greeted Yune with stale customer service. “Welcome to Darkmatter. Home of the Endless Void. How can I help you.”

Yune set the chip down. “I’ll take a second degree Endless Void. Black. And two swirled butter cookies.”

“Would you like to try the new Darkmatter light roast?” She held up a monochrome cup separated from the standard black disposable cups the coffee chain was known for. Both held the well-known star-blue steaming coffee cup and saucer surrounded by three stars and two ‘motion’ lines indicating the coffee was flying at FTL through space. “It comes in a grey cup.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Her tacit tone never changed pitch or volume as she keyed the order lazily into the flat screen register with one hand. “The Endless Void ends in five hours.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll get my money’s worth by then.”

“Whatever.” She held out her hand. “That’ll be eight marks.”

He handed her the chip. She scanned it and handed it back. He left a two mark tip.

She set two cookies on a sheet of wax paper on the counter, then filled up a black cup with equally black liquid, and slid a white heat guard sleeve with the Darkmatter logo on it around the cup. She handed it to him with the least amount of passion anyone had ever seen out of a barista. “Enjoy.”

This girl was living proof that no matter where you are in the galaxy, retail life sucks.

Will and Terra munched on the cookies.They tasted like shortbread, but just different enough to tell this wasn’t an Earth recipe.

He took a sip and relaxed as the brew steamed straight to his brain. “Ah, that’s more like it. See, now she is what this place used to be like.”

“Bored, indifferent, and covered in five layers of depression?” Will stated.

Yune blinked. “How do you know the word ‘indifferent?’ You’re ten.”

“I’d be thirteen back … home. I got all A’s on my last vocab test before.. Ya know...”

“Ah.”

A friendly, professional, feminine voice played over the intercom system after a cheery bell tone. [Attention all travelers departing to Enkai Prime. The transport, Seti forty-two, is on schedule to leave in one hour. Please report to docking bay Four-B and have your proof of passage ready at the scanner. Have a safe trip, and thank you for visiting Karuus.]

“Have a safe trip?” Yune questioned to himself, like he didn’t expect to hear anything that cordial.

He took in the whole newly renovated complex. “The last time I was here, they just rattled off schedules like reading a shopping list. First a Darkmatter, and now this. This place has really changed.” He ushered the kids to the left toward the nearest escalator heading up to the seventh floor. “I haven’t been here in a few years.”

“What’s a few years?” Will asked on the way up.

“Ten.”

“Ten years? That’s almost my whole life!” Terra balked..

“No, it’s longer. And thank you for reminding me I’m old.”

Will left the escalator, but stumbled back out of the way to keep from being stepped on by a seven foot tall alien with light purple skin. He looked up at her when she stopped. Shopping bags dangled from the crooks of her two arms. His mouth gaped open. He’d never seen a creature that tall in hs life, and since he was only four-foot-four, this woman was a giant.

“Watch where you’re going, runt,” she glowered down at him, bending at the waist to push her irateness.

“Hey! I--”

Yune’s hand quickly covered his mouth. “The boy didn’t mean anything by it, Ma’am. He’s just a child. Our apologies.”

“Humans, hm?” She peered at all three of them with glassy blue eyes, and snorted in derision. “You should keep your young on a leash. It’s bad enough they let _you_ wander around here freely.”

Yune bit his tongue. If he hadn’t, every syllable to leave his lips would be painted with insults.

The tall, stuck-up woman studied them like they were on display at a show, then straightened. “They’re too small. The boy looks like trouble. The girl, at least, is slightly adorable.”

With her judgement delivered, her high heeled ankle boots clicked their goodbye as she walked away, purging them from her memory.

Will watched her long, emerald, gossamer dress flutter at her ankles and frowned when Yune let him go. “What a bi--”

“Back it up, Sparky.” Yune forced his head away with one hand.

“She was mean. What is she?” Terra asked.

“An Anulean. They barely tolerate Humans,” he sipped his coffee and lead the kids onward.

“Why?”

“We’re a little above ‘pet’ level to them. They have very little regard for us as an intelligent race. Though some of them think we’re cute and will try to ‘protect’ us,” he scrunched up his nose at the thought. “Fortunately, there are more of that type than hers, which is why they agreed to join the Federation. That, and using the Regents as an additional defense force came in handy.”

Terra looked back at the woman towering over most of the crowd. The Anulean moved gracefully. Terra had thought she looked pretty until she’d opened her mouth. “I thought the Masaki were the oldest species besides the...”

“They’re the oldest _Human_ species,” he corrected her.

“So, who’s this guy we’re meeting?” Will asked.

“He’s an old friend of mine. He has a shop out of his house in the Azure sector. But I warn you. He’s rough, battle-hardened, and ready to kill at the slightest provocation.”

Terra’s eyes widened in fear. “A-and he’s your friend?”

“Hell yeah!” Yune grinned. “We got into a scrap a while back, and I pulled his ass out of the fire. He owes me one.”

They made their way down one of the rays toward a honeycomb structure. The lights here were more dim, though the center still offered a view of the planet above the walkways between shops and homes. It was more used and rundown than the central hub. If they updated the hub for visitors, this particular area of the colony hadn’t been touched.

Flanked by the two kids, Yune knocked on a metal door with one dirty, round window set in at the top. A few moments later, the door creaked open.

“Hm?” Will had been looking up, expecting to see a mountain of muscle appear, too girthy to fit through a standard door. Instead, he looked down.

There, with plenty of room in the threshold to accommodate another person stood a squat balding man with age spots covering his exposed scalp. He wore bug-eyed goggles that magnified his round grey eyes. The common clothes he donned were clean, and mostly of cool hues. A long vest covered with pockets draped over his knobby shoulders all the way to the floor. The older man stood five inches shorter than Will.

This was the last thing he expected to see, but couldn’t doubt that he was happy to finally be around someone shorter than him besides Terra - and she was only an inch away.

“Revi!” Yune spread his arms in a jovial, welcoming manner. “It’s me! You’re old pal, Yune.”

The man blinked, adjusted his goggle-glasses by a button on the side and looked up. “Yune?” His higher pitched voice questioned, as if recalling the past. “Yune Darrak?”

“Yeah, remember me? I know,” Yune chuckled. “It’s been a while. But, you look great. You got your eyes replaced. That’s a plus. How have you been?”

Revi’s mouth pursed like he’d taken a bite from a lemon. He growled deep in his throat and promptly slammed the door.

“Wow,” Terra said, not really surprised. “I guess he remembers you.”

Yune’s humiliation spiked. To have this happen was hurtful to his pride enough. To have it happen in front of his kids made it even worse. “Eh...the last time I was here, I didn’t really make the best impression. I was hoping he’d forgotten about that little mishap in the past decade.”

“You say that every time we stop somewhere,” Will folded his arms. “When _do_ you make a good impression?”

It took everything Yune had not to say, ‘shut up, kid.’ He took a deep breath, steeled his resolve, and knocked again.

The door opened. “I thought I made the message clear, but if you need a verbal, here you go. In your particular Mikran dialect,” Revi cleared his throat. “Get. Out.”

Yune stopped the door with his foot and hand before the tiny alien could pull off a repeat slamming performance. “Hold on, Revi. Let’s at least just talk.”

“I have nothing to say to you. You blew up my old shop!”

“In my defense, that Onikri sold me faulty Ephypsan power cells. How as I supposed to know the grenade would go off seconds after I installed them.”

Revi peered around Yune’s legs at the two kids hanging back. Terra smiled and waved. Will gave a cheesy grin. “You have offspring, now?” he looked disgusted. “Who bred with you?”

Yune hid his ire at the  insulting jab. His reply held a shipload of salt. “They’re my niece and nephew.”

“That’s a lie,” the older alien harrumphed. “You don’t have any siblings. Your parents didn’t, either, your father’s dead, and your mother’s a drunk. You have no kin. You’re more alone than an Oobo that lost its colony to an infestation purge. However you wound up with these two, they’re not your relations.”

Yune’s shoulders stiffened. “Ouch.”

Revi pulled open the door. “I’m more curious as to why they’re with you rather than what you have to say. But, you might as well come in.”

Yune stepped inside the dark shop with Will and Terra right behind. He, being six feet tall, had to duck. For the first time, the two kids felt like giants.

The first thing Will noticed was the smell. It was a mix of spices, aerosol air freshener to mimic the scent of pine - or what resembled pine to cover up the aroma, and oil. “What is he?” he whispered.

“A Trax. Intelligent, quick-witted, fastest reflexes in the galaxy next to you two - and me -, and bitter to a fault.”

“Oh,” Terra leaned over and whispered into Will’s ear. “He looks like a troll doll.”

Will snerked.

Revi had a knife out in a second.

Yune put himself in front of them. “Whoa, whoa, hey, easy. They’re just kids.”

Revi sheathed the knife with a grumble.

Will tapped on a larger piece of equipment that looked like a slumped over humanoid metal shell of a robot. A mess of tech stacked along the walls between shelves full of items displayed in cases, and some left exposed to collect dust. Other objects like power connectors, lights, and strange hexagon and multi-sided shaped panels hung from the ceiling in the far corner to the right of the door.

He reached up curiously to touch one of the panels the size of a grown human’s hand when Revi’s voice boomed a sharp command.

“Don’t touch that!”

The sudden outburst jolted him. It caused him to knock his palm against it as a small spark of Altairan energy zapped out of his palm in reaction. He quickly tried to steady it from rocking back and forth.

“That is a Xox tetragonal phase shift force field generator! Extremely hard to come by, and worth far more than your miserable little life!”

“Oh, I doubt that,” Yune mumbled.

Will backed away like he’d cut the wrong wire on an explosive. “Xox technology?”

“It has the name ‘Xox’ in it, doesn’t it?” Revi scowled as he turned around and walked behind the small desk in the corner. A set of stairs let him be at eye level with an average sized human.

“Does it work?” Will asked before he could censor himself. He wanted to see it in action.

“Well,” Revi scratched his bald spot at the crown of his head, “Yes, of course it does.”

“You’ve never turned it on, have you,” Yune wheedled.

He laughed. “Of course I haven’t. Find me a powersource compatible with this, and we’ll find out.”

“The Xox don’t use Ephypsan energy?” Terra asked.

Revi snorted derisively. “Of course not, stupid girl. Where have you been for the last two thousand years?”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I’m ten.”

“No excuse.” He picked up a pulse pistol with an alien design and began picking at its internal workings. Its cylindrical power cell lay glowing off to the side. “The Xox use a different form of energy we haven’t figured out how to replicate yet to power their ships and technology. The rest of the galaxy uses Ephypsan particles, but that’s still relatively young in comparison.”

“Where’d you get it?” Will wondered.

“Salvaged.” He pointed the deactivated pulse pistol at Yune. “Tell your brats to keep their greasy fingers off of my goods. Anything they break comes out of your skin.”

Yune pushed down the barrel. “No need for threats, old man. We’ll be on our way in no time.”

“Why are you and they here?”

Yune exhaled. “You’re right. They’re not blood related. But they are family. You of all people should respect that,” he pushed home the history between them, and a story of meaning that lived in the past. Also, if Revi touched them, he’d shoot him between those big bug-eyed goggles in a heartbeat.

Revi relaxed. “Fair enough. Then why are _you_ here?”

Yune removed one of the fist-sized raw gems from his pocket and set it on the counter.

“Raw amoradite?” The shift in tone, attitude, and even the room ambiance changed dramatically.  Revi’s eyes widened, making them look half the size of his head behind the magnified lenses. He picked it up with his small hand as though daring to touch a deity and examined it closely. “It’s pure. Where did you steal this from?” his rasped in awe.

“I didn’t. Believe it or not, I got it the old fashioned way.”

“Let me rephrase that. Which mining facility did you steal this from?”

“None. The comet was unoccupied, and for a good reason.”

“I don’t suppose you’d part with its location?” the small alien’s greed dripped from his words.

“Sorry, pal. It’s better left off the radar. Trust me on this one.”

The old man’s bushy eyebrows knitted together. “Oh, really.”

“Let’s just say, if _you_ go there,” he emphasized,’ “you’ll be making that rock your permanent home.”

“Oh?” he mused,”then how did _you_ escape? Hm?” He threw the question like a pop quiz.

Yune answered it smoothly as someone who studied ahead. “I had a home-field advantage.”

Revi’s right eyebrow quirked up in confusion.

“It-it’s a...Terran phrase. It means I had a qualdreg up my sleeve.”

“Right,” he recognized his own species form of the card game, poker, instantly. “I forgot you visited that primitive rock a while back. Still listening to...what did you call it? ‘Funk music?’” He carefully set the chunk of Amoradite down. “Why come to me with this?”

“Because I need to call in that favor.”

“There are other dealers who could give you twice as much as I can offer.”

“This isn’t for the money,” he paused, “… ok, it’s not just for the money.” He leaned forward. “I’m getting out. For good this time.”

“You know how hard it is to get out of this game when you’ve been in it as long as we have?” Revi picked up the gem once more. “People like you keep showing up at my door.”

“Maybe you shouldn’t have made so many friends.”

“Or enemies.”

The two rugged fighters held a stare off for a solid, awkward, five seconds.

A loud ‘sproing! Clank!’ shattered the tense atmosphere. Will backed away from the android. Its metal head lolled across the floor. “I didn’t do it. It… it was like that when I got here.”

The pawn shop keeper’s face went from pallid to red. “What part of ‘don’t touch’ do you runts not understand?! Is your translator malfunctioning?! Come here! I’ll fix it for you!”

Will and Terra stumbled back with their hands up. “We’re good.”

Yune pulled out a credit chip and handed it to Will. “There’s a place to get food down the way. Go get something and stay there. I’ll see you guys in a few minutes.”

Will and his twin were out the door in seconds.

The tiny alien heaved a sigh of relief now that the two most destructive forces in the universe - children - were away from his wares. “You sure he’s not yours?”

“If I didn’t know exactly where that kid came from, I’d be asking the same thing.”

 

* * * *

Revi and Yune discussed pricing, and the details of what the taller Mik human requested. The negotiations, along with the actual implementation of the deal took about thirty minutes.

Satisfied, and now with pieces of the rare Amoradite in his possession, Revi bid his comrade farewell. Alone in his shop once more, he picked up a step stool and set it down in the far corner. He pushed a button on the side that extended the step upwards by three more. Irritated, Revi climbed the steps and reached up to stop the tech the boy had handled from swaying, as it had been doing so very subtly the entire time. Only when he did, he paused.

Something snagged his curiosity. He leaned up on his tip toes and adjusted his goggles to get a closer look.

What he saw almost made him fall off the stool in shock.

Without a doubt, the slim indented lines and coin-sized core of the Xox tetragonal phase shift force field generator -a personal shield generator - held a very faint, but unmistakable, sky-blue glow.  

 

* * * *

 

A to-go bag with a boisterously happy rabbit-looking creature held a six piece zabbit wing combo inside it. Writing in Masakan read ‘THANK YOU’ over the caricature. Will had set the bag on the four-seater al fresco table the kids had chosen to eat at. The table overlooked an atrium one floor below.

The two had tried one of the wings to see what a zabbit tasted like, and realized with regret as they’d downed half of their drinks to cool their burning tongues, that Yune had sent them to a galactic greasy spoon to get hot wings.

For the record, zabbit tasted like chicken. And corbs - a corn cob in the form of an orb - were commonplace. A ‘morb’ was an order of four corbs in a box.Therefore, ‘more corbs.’

“I don’t get it,” Terra took a bite of a small, mildly-spiced, bbq’d corb that came in a morb with her meal of zabbit and potato wedges, “How come everyone is so afraid of the Xox, and yet we’ve never seen them? You’d think with how much people are scared, they’d be everywhere,” she sipped on her fizzy drink. Her counterpart stared off in a daze. “Hello,” she waved her hand in front of his face. “Earth to Will.”

He snapped out of it. “Hm? Oh...sorry.”

“You ok?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking,” he picked up a rolled up meat-filled, fried dough like a dumpling and popped it into his mouth. “I think I did see them.”

Her eyes widened. “You saw a Xox? What do they look like?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t seen them, but I saw their ship,” he picked at his food. “The day we were taken, I saw it enter the system just before we jumped away,” his memory of the event played as clearly through his mind as if he’d witnessed it yesterday.

She slowly lowered her drink and whispered close, “You saw a Xox ship?”

He nodded.

“What did it look like?”

“It was huge, dark, and had blue light in lines and spots coming from it. Even that far away, it looked as big as the moon.”

“So, any of these aliens could be a Xox,” she glanced around at the semi-busy communal area. Foot traffic wasn’t too heavy, so it must be a lunar weekday.

“Well, I’m not gonna ask, and be all like, ‘Hey, are you the galactic Big Bad?’”

She finished her drink and moved the straw up and down to make it squeak against the plastic lid, though it wasn’t only for the fun of creating the sound. She was thinking. “Maybe,” she stopped and popped the lid off to get to the last of the liquid hiding among the ice cubes, “maybe there aren’t any here, and that’s why Yune let us come with him.”

Will shoved another piece of food into his mouth. “Probably. Revi said he couldn’t get a power source for that personal shield, so either he wasn’t able to convince someone to sell him one, or steal it, or this place is Xox-free.”

He balled up the wax paper that absorbed the oil from the greasy food and tossed it across the path to the nearest garbage bin. He missed.

Terra balled up hers and tossed it. Of course, it landed perfectly. She smiled.

Will grumbled. “How come, even with this power, I still can’t hit anything?”

“Face it, Sparky, she’s just better than you,” Yune sat down next to him and opened up the to-go bag. “Yes! Tasty deliciousness, welcome to my mouth.” He chomped down on a sauce-slathered wing, and instant huffed and puffed from the spiciness. A slurp of coffee from his bottomless Endless Void later, and he was smiling in contentment. “Perfect. Nobody makes wings like Kibbob Fried Zabbit.”

“KFZ?” the two said flatly in tandem.

“Yeah,” He looked between them, confused. “Why did you say it like that?”

“Nothing,” they both said.

Yune licked his fingers, cringed at the pain, and drank the coffee. His food was gone in mere minutes.

“So, you got what you needed?” Will asked.

“Yup. We can head back to the ship...after we get some of this to go.”

Yune took them to a couple of stores to get new clothes in different sizes, since the two would outgrow their current wear soon. Hopefully. They’d been nearly the same clothing size for two years. As human kids, they should be taller by now. He was curious as to why they weren’t.

He ordered some extra supplies to be delivered to the Horizon. It was officially the first shopping trip they’d been a part of in four months.

Two hours later, they entered a floating garden at the top floor of the central hub beneath the clear dome. The ball of the aquamarine planet provided an incredible view.

“It’s about time you got here,” Selke stood beneath a thick-trunked tree with long drooping branches cut just above head height. The pink blossoms on its branches flowered. She tucked a strand of wavy light brown hair behind her ear.

“Selke!” Terra and Will ran to give her a hug.

“I missed you!” Terra smiled.

Seeing both of the kids warmed her heart. Even Yune, who offered her a welcoming smile, made her happier than she’d felt in the weeks she was away. She gave the kids each a long hug. “I missed you, too.”

“Where’d you go? What did you see?” Will asked.

“Did you bring us anything?” They both said.

“Look what I got!” Terra modeled her new blue leggings and pink long-sleeved tunic in a fashion show spin.

Yune had sent the rest of the things they’d purchased back to the ship. Normally, he couldn’t afford that sort of service, but Revi had given him more than enough for the amoradite to cover their needs for a long while. Plus, he still had those two backup raw chunks on the ship, for which he had other plans.

Selke stepped up to her companion. “Glad to see you survived taking care of them.”

“Again.” He held up the to-go bag.

“And you got me a morb. You do care,” she took the food with a smile. “You didn’t run into any trouble while I was gone, did you?”

“Us? Trouble? Nah. We were fine. You didn’t miss a thing.”

She smiled softly. “That’s not true,” her glance lingered just long enough to pass normality. She took Terra by the hand and began walked back to the docking port.

Will and Terra bothered her for details of her adventures the whole way.

Yune watched them go for a second, smiled, and followed, sipping on his refilled Endless Void.

Once everyone was buckled into their seats on the Horizon, he detached from the colony’s umbilical, piloted the ship easily out of the docking bay, and left the Karuus lunar colony behind.

 

* * * *

 

Downstairs in Revi’s closed shop, the hook that held the tetragonal phase shift personal shield generator swayed empty.

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #16: Darkmatter is the galaxy’s version of a Starbucks, and usually found on every major starpost, outpost, and city. They are the only company to carry Little kat coffee. Their trademark logo is a coffee cup on a saucer flying through space with two motion lines behind it and three stars - two to the top right, and one to the bottom left. Their disposable cups are black, and the sleeves are white with the blue logo. The Endless Void is a bottomless cup of coffee that only lasts for the day. The degrees (first, second third) are the sizes (small, medium, large.)  
> The barista is the author's inner retail life insert. Anyone who works retail will empathize with her.


	16. The Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While visiting a astrological phenomenon called the Angelic Cluster, Yune makes a decision that will forever change the lives of everyone aboard the Horizon.

###  **Chapter 16**

_Two weeks later…_

 

The Horizon cruised along at sub light speed through the nebulonic drifts of space. They had no need to be anywhere, no urgent matters, and no deadlines.

The ship was mostly quiet with the engines providing their constant low rumbled hum in the background.

Selke watched the stars go by from behind the security of the triple lounge windows with a cup of hot coffee in her hands. She had brewed a pot from one of the bags of grounds Yune bought at Darkmatter. The calmness of life in this moment soaked into her. From every element of this old, beat up, Mikran light freighter, to the depths of the cosmos beyond, to the familiarity and history that this ship held. Once, she’d been a crewmember here with her old team, but the tension and negativity that would often permeate the air never let her fully relax. Now, for the past two years, she realized that had been replaced with warmth. The Horizon, and those within it, had become home.

Selke sighed lightly with a smirk at the memories. What a different path her life had taken.

Yune walked into the lounge. “I just saw Terra studying in the med bay. You know anything about that?”

“She wanted to learn the basics of treating wounds. She said with us, it might come in handy, and I don’t blame her. Although I didn’t expect it from her. I wonder what happened to cause this sudden interest in medicine?”

He shrugged. “Who know? Kids want to be everything. When I was her age, I wanted to join the Regents.”

“You did, though.”

“And I don’t regret dropping out. I was a problem cadet. They didn’t want to deal with me, and I didn’t want to deal with them.”

“Speaking of,” Selke turned her body slightly so he was more in view, “how’re the flying lessons coming along for _your_ problem cadet?”

“Not bad. He still crashes the ship sometimes in simulations, but he’s doing a lot better than I’d given him credit for. The kid’s a natural.”

“Do I detect a hint of jealousy?”

“Hah,” he brushed it off. “It’s probably from his Altairan side.” Both kids had previously exhibited fast reflexes.

“He’s part of the One Thousand for a reason. Maybe this is it.”

“He could be half god for alI I care.He’s still not getting my seat.”

She chuckled at that.

“Honestly, who knows what any of those kids are supposed to do to defeat the Xox.”

“I’m just happy they have the chance to live,” she sipped her coffee. “It might not be only their inherent skills that defeat them, but the way they affect people. Look what these two have done to us. We’ve changed. You can’t tell me you haven’t noticed it.”

The past years have induced micro changes. Before, he was all about himself, the prize, and what every situation offered him. Of course he was still all about the adventure - that would never abate. Adventuring was in his soul -, but now his decisions didn’t only affect himself, and for once, he cared. It was a sense far different from being on a team. When he looked back on it, piecing all of those tiny changes together, the Yune of this time was a different person from the Yune of two years ago.

Selke gazed out the window. “They’re like a thousand candles in the galaxy, small for now, but their flames will envelope every known world. It’s the idea of the One Thousand that will spread - what they represent to those who need something to believe in. I think, like the Ephypsans, it’s that idea that the Xox are trying to destroy.”

“Good luck trying to kill an idea,” Yune folded his arms. “We never got a chance to be affected by the Ephypsans outside of the particles they created. We don’t know what else they had to offer,” he agreed with her sentiment completely. “But the longer those kids are alive out there, the more desperate the Xox will become to kill that idea before it takes permanent hold.”

She inhaled deeply and let the breath out in a long, thoughtful stream. “I just hope the others out there are alright.”

“I’m sure they’re fine. We just need to worry about ours.” He gestured to her cup of coffee. “Tell me that’s fresh.”

“Just brewed.”

He went to the kitchen in the adjacent alcove to get his own personal mug and filled it, though set it down on the counter and gripped the edge in both hands. He took a deep breath, let it out slowly as though preparing himself for battle. Yune picked up the cup of steaming coffee and returned to the lounge.

“You know,” he stepped up to her and sipped his drink, “it wasn’t the same here without you.”

“Did they drive you mad?”

“A little.” He conceded, “ok, a lot. I had to ground Terra twice.”

“What did she do?”

“The first time, she ate my cookie stash. I have to go back to Mikra for those. Second time, she convinced Will to set up targets through every deck so they could play tag with that zephyr ball of theirs.”

“They’ve done that tons of times before. How is that any different?”

“She used the gun you gave her, and he used the ball. A bind shot ricocheted off the bulkhead and hit me.”

She covered her mouth from a snort, barely hiding an explosion of laughter.

“It wasn’t funny,” he defended himself. “I’d just woken up and was on my way to the bathroom. It left me ass up for five minutes.”

The laughter escaped. She knew full well he slept shirtless in his underwear - a set of red, lightweight skin-tight shorts. Everyone in the team had chores, and laundry was one of them.  Finally, some revenge for all the times he’d irritated her in the past. “I am so sorry I wasn’t here for that.”

“Next time, I’ll record it for you,” he snarked.

Her laughter died down, and she simply lingered in the aftermath of the mirth.

With Selke watching the stars, he lingered in this moment, in the stillness, and locked this away in his memory.

“Where are we?”

“That’s the Angelic Cluster,” he offered. Their team had never passed through here before. This was close to the Galactic Void - which everyone avoided entirely -, so there was never a reason to come here. Until now.  

“You brought us here on purpose?”

He made sure to blink as little as possible so his contact lenses could record every second. “My fingers may have slipped and typed in a specific set of coordinates by accident.”

“So why here?”

“It’s a secret place. No Xox, no Regents, and the closest planet is uninhabited with nothing but ruins.” He dimmed the lights in the room, letting the illumination from the nebula paint the interior. “And it has this…” He stared out the window.

She took the hint and gazed out at the cosmic view.

Small bursts of light lit up a corner of the nebula in fast succession until one major blast tore open a rift. It resembled a flash jump point. An orange-yellow band exploded outward and whipped from its center with crackling ice-blue energy bursts swarming across it.

Selke gasped as she watched it caress the nebula, affecting its color, and even pulling space dust like an aurora borealis in its wake. It created the illusion of wings.

“It’s breathtaking,” she hushed.

“The cloud emits high level radiation, radio, and subspace waves, and a massive energy surge. I’m not sure of the details, but they can really mess with a ship’s systems. Get too close, and you’ll fly blind. Sensors are useless here. We’re far enough out that the residual radiation will only cause minor disruptions. Plus, it’s a better show from here.”

The ribbon floated through the cloud, shifting in colors, and finally absorbed into an identical tear at the other end.

The astronomical anomaly returned to normal.

By the formation the ribbon took, that’s why it must be known as the Angelic Cluster. “How did you know this was here?”

“By accident. This was my eighteenth flash point in a row to escape the Xox a few years back. My ship sustained damage from the fight. By the time I’d arrived here, I’d lost them, but the jump drive was drained completely. My systems were fried. I was dead in the water for days while the engine core recharged from the backup unit. It would only give me enough to limp to the planet. I was a lot closer to the nebula then. My communications and navigation were out, but something in one of the larger ribbons recharged the Ephypsan particles. Even I felt...incredible, like the weight of the years had vanished.

“I was able to make a manual jump to the nearest system. If that hadn’t happened, I’d probably still be stranded on that planet.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asked calmly.

He set the barely-touched coffee cup on the lounge table. “And risk my perfect hiding spot?”

She just chuckled and shook her head. *You always had a knack for keeping yourself distant.”

“We all did. We went our separate ways like the team never existed,” he instantly regretted the automatic brash statement, and pushed back the side of himself that hid behind all talk and bravado, “but sometimes a person can find reasons to change,” he said calmly and as nonchalant as possible.

“I suppose so,” She had to admit. “We may have changed, but you still hold back. It’s too much a part of who you are. For you to let that go, they’d have to be damned huge reasons.”

“I’m looking at one of them now.”

That rendered Selke speechless for a moment.

“The other two are small and on this ship.”

She sighed and set the cup down on the table. “I’m not a good reason, and you know it. The team broke up because of my mistake. I made the wrong call back on Bothriat Seven.”

“You’re still holding onto that?”

“How can I not?”

He rubbed is palm gently up an down her left upper arm. “That wasn’t your fault. We had no choice. We were pinned down, and blowing up the cargo was the only way to get out of there alive. Marci made the call to arm the pulse grenades.”

“No, she didn’t,” Selke shook her head.

That threw him off guard. “What?”

“I did.”

Yune jaw slacked slightly.

“Marci was against it. She was going to go in after you, but Zaf held her back. I didn’t know if you would survive, but I gave the order anyway to save the team.”

Her fingers brushed delicately against the right side of his face. “We got away, but the cost was still too high.”

He knew what she meant. The flash from the explosion damaged his eyes so severely, he went blind. The Mik were known for their incredibly sharp vision, which was part of what made him a skilled pilot.

Her voice broke up from the guilt she’d carried for years. “My decision destroyed you. I’ll never forget the look on your face when you opened your eyes and couldn’t find any of us. I’d never seen you so afraid,” The strength of the memory forced her to look away, unable to face him.

“Hey,” he turned her head softly toward him. “You made the right call for the good of the team. That’s what a leader does. I can see again because of a favor you called in that you could have used to get out of this life. Don’t believe for one second that I don’t owe you for that. I owe you for every day after that.”

She stared into the contacts with their golden edging around the iris. Not only did they record everything he saw, but they allowed him to see at close to his original sharp vision as synthetically possible. “I’m sorry, Yune. I’m sorry for running when I should have stayed.”

Shortly after she’d left the Horizon, Yune had looked for a way to emotionally heal, and hooked up with Marci - which ended up causing a rift between himself and Zaf. Zaf went back to Kestra, got married, and Marci took up with a band of bounty hunters. Yune got away with the Horizon before her new ‘friends’ could steal it from him. She’d taken their breakup in the worst possible way. Every time they crossed paths, he was met with a weapon at his throat.

But now, in this moment, he needed to make his final decision - one that would change his life forever for either good or bad. “Then let’s stop running. We’ve lived here for two years together, but you’re still distant. You run off on personal trips that I know are important, but you barely give us any warning. You’re not bound here - I know that. You can go anywhere, and you have your life, and I respect that. We both live completely separate paths even though we both call the Horizon ‘home.’ And because of that, I know you still feel alone,” his voice lowered in honest sincerity. “I want you to know that is never the case. If I have anything to say about it, you never will be alone.”

The weight of his words kept her silent.

He pursed his lips, and let the first of two bombs drop. “I’m getting out, Selke, for good this time. And… hold on, hold on,” He hurried over to a wall console and pulled up a music file from Terra’s collection, isolating it to this area only - since the lounge had an open entryway to the hall. He turned the sound down to an ambient level. When he looked up, he was met a confused Selke as ‘Kiss From a Rose’ played softly through the lounge

“What are you doing?” She asked.

He withdrew a purple, palm-sized, slim case from his pocket and held it out, “I want you to come with me.”

She took the case and tapped on the lock to open it. A silver chain necklace with a triangular pendant made from the red amoradite sparkled in the burst of another ribbon from the Angelic Cluster.

“I know Felorian customs enough to know the Mik concept of Marriage isn’t part of it, so, this gift is from of my people, the music is from Will and Terra’s, and what I’m offering is from yours. I’m offering you my Promise.” His heart raced, and he knew his hands were clammy, but he was in it, now. “I, Yune Xandran Darrak of Mikra, offer a promise of a good life, a healthy life, and a long life.”

The universe outside faded away to Yune and the smooth vocals of Seal. He was reciting the life-binding promise of her people. “Yune--”

He held fast. “I offer everything I am to compliment your life, Selke Kellnaris.”

She saw only his rough but kind visage, and the nervousness in his eyes, but also felt a true sincerity she’d rarely seen in the face of a man who made jokes and finger-gunned his way out of deadly situations. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep--”

“I give myself to aid you, to be your eyes when you cannot see, your lips when you cannot speak, and your air when you cannot breathe. Let me give you my heart when you cannot heal.”

He pulled the necklace out of the box and clasped it around her neck. It rested just below her clavicle.

And yet, she didn’t stop him.

“I have enough amoradite to set us up forever. We can go live on Nileia. I’ve already researched it. It’s a pre-FTL world, part of the Masakan Federation, but only for scientists studying the locals, and best of all, no Xox. Or we can go anywhere else you want. We can even just stay on the ship and travel. I will follow you to the ends of the galaxy and back.”

“Yune--”

He took her hands in his. “Stay with me, Selke. We’ll find a place and give Will and Terra a real chance to grow up. They can live as normal a life as we can give them. We’ll learn everything we can about the Altair and do our best to teach them how to use their power. We can have a regular life. We--”

“Yune,” she slpped her hand free and pressed her finger to his lips, though her voice remained gentle as she smiled, “stop talking.” She leaned up to kiss him.

The touch of their lips blew any thoughts he had into space dust. He had always felt something for her, even when he was with Marci, but the past two years brought that love to full fruition. He leaned into the kiss, automatically drawing his fingers up into her wavy hair, and his other on her waist. She was always strong, caring, and now, she was soft but still confident.

She pulled away and looked into his eyes. “I, Selke Kellnaris, accept your promise, Yune Xandran Darrak of Mikra. I will be your eyes, when you cannot see,” her fingers lingered on his face,”your lips when you cannot speak, and your breath when you cannot breathe. I will give you my heart when you cannot heal. And,” she let it linger, knowing her next words would mean as much to him, as his Promise did to her, “yes.”

No moment in his life mirrored the joy he felt now as he wrapped his arms around her for another deep, passionate kiss.

They held each other among the ethereal beauty of the cosmos painting the stars in their brilliance.

“Holy cow! Did you see that?!” Will’s extatic voice preceded his equally fast and hyper footsteps up the stairs and down the hall.

They heard him with just enough time to break out of their locked embrace.

Will slid into the lounge, talking a million light years a minute. “It was awesome! First the screen flickered and I lost the simulation, so I thought I accidentally broke something, and you were gonna kill me, but then the computer showed a flux in power with interference that fuzzed out all signals, and then I felt super wired, like I’d eaten an entire box of Floamy-O’s, and then I saw this massive ribbon-wave-thing go all Zoooom! Fwoooosh!” he jumped up onto the couch and ran around the room like he was an airplane, “And then boom! It got absorbed into a flash jump rift in the middle of the nebula like it ate it for breakfast! Did you guys see it? Did you? Did you?”

“That was amazing! Oh my god, did you see that?!” Terra burst in from the medical bay one floor below. She’d witnessed the celestial display from the room’s single window, and she, too, felt hyper. “It was the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in my life!”

She paused, taking in Yune and Selke’s stiff yet awkward posture as her counterpart continued to buzz around the room. “Are you guys ok?”

“Yes, we saw it. It’s called the Angelic Cluster, and that was a radiation ribbon,” Yune did his best not to snap. “Could you two go lock yourselves in the shuttle for about an hour?”

“Huh?” Will finally stopped, though blinked, absolutely clueless. “Why?”

Terra’s eyes darted from their faces to the box in Selke’s hand, to their closer-than-usual proximity, and a flurry of memories of their brushes against each other the past two years sped through her mind.

Her green eyes widened sharply above a broad smile, and she let out a squeal that even the nebula wouldn’t be able to interfere with. “Eeeeee!”

“Ow, stop it,” Will shoved at her shoulder. “I don’t get it. What’s going on?”

She snached his hand and held it outward toward the two adults. “That!” she locked her eyes on the box.

“Eh?” Will couldn’t be more confused if he tried. “You lost me.”

“Well, we know who the intuitive one is,” Selke joked.

“Does this mean you’re staying?” Terra kept her smile.

She nodded once. “Yes.”

“Forever?”

“That’s part of the plan.”

Will started catching on to what Selke remaining on the ship with them meant. “Wait.., You’re not going away anymore?”

She shook her head. “No. I’m not.”

“Well, the Oobo’s out of the bag, so why hide it?” He curled his arm around Selke’s waist, and grinned when he saw the full realization slam into Will’s big head. “Your aunt Selke and I are going to be your aunt and uncle for real.”

Will stared in shock.

Yune knew that because of his experience, Will never fully accepted that he wouldn’t be abandoned or betrayed. He’d overheard the two where Will voiced his fear that Yune would get tired of them living on the ship and drop them off on a planet, or send them back to the Regents.

“Do you swear,” Will tightened his jaw.

Yune and Selke looked to each other, then to the kids. She loved them, and after all they had lost, she wanted to pay for her sins by giving them everything she could to be happy. She spoke first. “We swear.”

Terra squealed all the way into Selke’s arms. The felorian woman caught her and hugged her tightly. “You’re getting married!”

She hugged the small girl tightly.  “We already are,” she clarified. “By my people’s customs, if you’re out in space without a officiant to witness, and both parties accept the life binding promise, it’s legitimate.” She suddenly realized another, less favorabile responsibility had to take place. “I need to call my sister. She’s going to lose her pelk over this.”

Will walked over to Yune and looked up. “I want to hear it from you.”

Yune understood. He rested his hand on Will’s shoulder and looked the boy in the eye. “I swear, Sparky. ...Will.”

Will’s chest burned. He smiled, blinked repeatedly, and nodded. “Ok. Uncle Yune.” He broke eye contact. “That feels weird to say out loud.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Yune ruffled his hair. He had to be honest with himself. It was nice to hear.

“We’re a real family now!” Terra wrapped her arms around Will’s neck and hugged him, then hugged Yune.“We’re home, Will! We’re home!”

That was it. Those were the words he didn’t realize he needed to hear for so many years. He felt lighter, and like he wanted to cry from the release of that weight. Out in the middle of space, among two aliens who became their caretakers, this was home. “Where are we gonna go?”

“Well, I have this planet in mind. It’s in the Golvarith System,” Yune smirked.

“That sounds like a weird disease.”

“Yeah, but not as weird as your face!” he scooped up the small ten year old like he had when the boy was younger and threw him over his shoulder to spin around. Although Will looked very much the same as the day they were rescued. He noticed both he and Terra had barely grown.

Will laughed. This was the first time he’d been spun in months. He wouldn’t admit it out loud, but he missed it. This was his uncle, his family, and after two-and-a-half galactic standard years - longer by Earth time -, he could finally accept that he had a place to belong.

Will and Terra...were home.

* * * *

tbc

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(this picture relates to the notes. Yup, I drew it. :3 )

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #16: Oobo -  
> My original space fuzzball. Completely covered in fluff, about the size of a loaf of bread. They can roll up into balls. They have large eyes with a single black pupil and white sclera, six stubby black legs that let them latch onto surfaces, and can exist in space as well as oxygen-rich atmospheres. Their eyes have a layer of tapetum lucidum like a cat's so they can see in near pitch darkness, and they shine when lights hit them. No one knows how they can transition from decompression to a compressed atmosphere, but their bodies seem to be able to quickly adapt. They experience a moment of disorientation during this transition. Considered pests by most space-faring species. Exterminators use that moment to kill their colonies.
> 
> They don’t like foods biological species eat. They eat metal and space dust, so they're found on derelict ships and in shipyards where vessels are parked or stored, and on ships that aren't well maintained, or don’t go through a scrubber at starports.
> 
> They make a little purr or squeak sound depending on their mood. It’s how they communicate vocally to other species, but they mostly communicate silently in groups. No one knows how, but they seem to understand the concept and importance of a group. It is extremely rare to find a single oobo. Where there is one, there are bound to be more varying from small groups of ten to colonies of hundreds. 
> 
> Some humans think they’re adorable. They're drawn to energy outputs like moths to flame, but they don't feed on it. It's like a lure and makes them feel cozy - hence why they settle their colonies in ships. They are hermaphroditic organisms.
> 
> I guess it's closest cousin would be based off a Soot Sprite. Only blue and with 6 legs. They only come in shades of blue, grey, and black, because it's space. They blend in well with the background to make it easier for them to hide in dark cervices. A very rare albino oobo would be bubblegum pink. These stand out like a lighthouse in a storm, so they don't tend to survive for long.
> 
> I wanted to make it cute, so I gave it big eyes and an uwu. ^_^ The Altair kept them as pets. Without any Altair for 2000 years, these little guys just live in colonies.


	17. Old Frenemies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They leave the water planet Zeebi to embark on a four month trip after installing a vital piece of equipment. Terra learns more about Selke's people, the Felorians, and Will continues his pilot lessons. Before they can leave, the Horizon runs into serious trouble with a group of mercenaries called the Night Wraiths. One of them holds a shocking surprise for Yune and Selke.

###  **Chapter 17**

_One week later…_

They decided to travel. 

Selke couldn’t bring herself to keep Yune planet-bound. His adventurous spirit would always be yearning to explore. That was one of the many reasons that drew her to him so many years before, and part of why she loved him now. He would willingly give all of it up to be with her and raise Will and Terra, but she knew in her heart that he would never be happy. And Will was of the same ilk. Terra was like her, and would hurt in the same way. 

That’s why they had a family meeting, and made the decision to live the nomadic life. They would face whatever came their way among the stars together. 

The horizon slipped through FTL as easily as a duck across placid water. It’s cargo bay brimmed with recently gathered supplies from the water planet, Zeebi. 

The six-foot tall, stubbed-beaked, four-armed, skinny Zeebians themselves had purchased the second chunk of amoradite for one million federation marks. Not only was it a beautiful gem and glimmered like a sun beneath the waves, but microslivers were used in their technology. It had something to do with sound resonances. The Zeebians small, clear blue eyes meant they heavily relied on echo location. 

Their speech consisted of chirps and trills, but the translators within Will, Terra, Selke, and Yune easily turned the chatter to their native languages. Zeebish was a long-known irregular language among the Masakan Federation linguistic department, so the nanites rarely stumbled to decipher and transmit new vocabulary to the audio receptors of their hosts. 

Will had turned his translator off many times just to listen to the sounds they created. Sometimes it was like music, and a duo, trio, or quartet would create chords. He had tasked himself to decipher the tones to meaning, but didn’t learn much in the four days they were visiting beyond understanding their general greeting, and a couple of sounds portraying happiness and sadness. It fascinated him. His father would have loved these tall, lanky guys.

Yune thought it weird that a species this bumbling outside an aquatic environment could have developed that kind of technology on their own, let alone become an FTL society, but they paid him, so he left it to a mystery. 

Both children found the goofy way the tall Zeebians waddled to be hilarious. They were warned not to laugh out loud multiple times. The aliens loved the sound of their laughter, and would do whatever they could to recreate it. They even recorded it. 

Terra and Selke didn’t have a problem staying in the Zeebians aquatic habitats for a few days, but Will and Yune couldn’t get to the surface fast enough. 

And yet, Will had snuck out using a bubble rebreather to explore regardless of his fear. His need to discover trumped his hatred of being under water. That’s how he’d accidentally discovered that his Altairan power conducted exceptionally well through water, and also how he earned four hours of groundation in the Horizon’s holding cell. The Zeebians regarded him and Terra with a strange reverence and caution after that, repeating a musical tone his translator couldn’t decipher. It was a word or phrase or emotion the linguists hadn’t programmed in, and the nanites had a problem with it. 

For Will, the punishment was worth the discovery of that knowledge about his power. It was an energy that belonged to him, was as familiar as the act of breathing, but that he still didn’t know the name of, or understand. 

At the end of it all, they were thrilled to be back in the welcome, cold arms of beautiful, spacious, space. 

Terra sat cross-legged on a crate labeled ‘Zargarfle’ in Masakan in Yune’s handwriting, and fired off shots at the faded targets painted on the wall. “What’s a Zargarfle again?”

Selke loaded perishable goods onto a pallet to take up to the kitchen. “Meat. It’s a multi horned aquatic creature.”  

“Was it that herd of sea cow things we saw that chased us to the underwater city?”

“More like a whale, but yes. Those were migrating Zargarfle.” The Zeebians told her the meat contained lots of Omega 3, and plenty of nutrients to easily sustain any biological creature traveling through space, like a superfood.They had enough to keep in their cold storage for a long time.

“Aunt Selke?”

Hearing that always warmed her heart a little. “Yeah?”

“How long have you known uncle Yune?”

She thought back. “We met about twenty years ago. He was in a bar looking to drown himself in a Virudian Hyper Zone, and I was looking for a way off Mikra that wouldn’t get me shot down.”

“Have you always liked him?”

“Not at first. I thought he was arrogant, annoying, and full of himself. Honestly, I wanted to shoot him between the eyes before I’d talk to him. ”

“Well,” Terra held out the word, “how is that different from now?”

She laughed. “He’s changed a lot. Once I got past all the talk and bravado, I saw someone worth standing by.”

“So, you thought he was cute?”

“Hardly,” she snorted at the way the small ten-year-old wheedled the question. “Felorians don’t base attraction primarily on physical appearance. We appreciate beauty, but we know it fades. My species is partially telepathic, so we place more emphasis on the person rather than their body.”

“Really? I didn’t know you were telepathic,” she exclaimed. “That’s so cool!”

Terra’s innocent reaction of wonder amused her. “It has its charms and its complications.” 

“I wish I was telepathic,” she raised the gun and fired off three shots, hitting their targets on the wall.

“You have your bond with Will. That’s something unique no one else has.” 

“But we can’t talk to each other like that.”

“Are you sure?” She’d watched the two for four years. She had witnessed them hold entire conversations without speaking. It was a series of motions, touches, and looks. There was definitely something extrasensory between them. 

“Positive”

“Have you tried?”

“Not really. A few times, maybe.”

“Would you want to?”

“Um…” Terra paused, lowered her weapon, and mulled it over. She knew Will incredibly well, probably better than he knew himself. Over the past two-and-a-half years, she’d often stayed up with him with his flashlight trained on the door while he slept to keep the monsters away when they were younger. He only admitted to her and no one else that he was still afraid of the dark. She never judged him for it. 

Both of them felt comfortable being at their most vulnerable around the other.

They’d coordinated full-on sneak attacks on Yune in the ship without saying a word. 

They’d gotten in trouble on planets more than once for wanting to explore - now adding Zeebi to that list.

He’d known when she became upset after a fight with Selke shortly after they called the Horizon ‘home’ and hid in the cubed junction crawl space above the cargo bay. She threw a tantrum about wanting to at least see the asteroid field Earth had become. She’d screamed that Selke couldn’t understand or feel her pain, and so she’d run away as far as she could get on a spaceship. He’d found her, and rather than try to coax her down, had stayed with her. 

As for hearing his thoughts as actual speech… she shook her head. “Maybe not.”

Selke expected no less, and was glad the girl came to that mature conclusion on her own. 

“Have you ever heard uncle Yune’s thoughts?”

“Once,” Selke piled the last box onto the hover pallet.

“What was it like?”

There wasn’t a safe way to describe the thoughts running through that man’s head to a minor. There were also some very deep and personal things she’d heard that Yune never wanted anyone to know. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”

“Can you read mine? I’ll think of something. What am I thinking right now?”

She chuckled at the way Terra scrunched up her eyes to focus on a thought. “It doesn’t work that way.”

She relaxed. “How does it work?”

“Well, I get a general sense about people, but that’s about it. To increase that skill, my people use what’s called an ‘Eye,’ to see into the other person.”

“You use an eyeball? Ew, gross.”

“No, it’s not an eyeball,” she laughed. “It’s a shard of Micathyst. It creates an empathic and telepathic link with another person. Using it is an invasion of self, so both parties must be in full consent”

“What’s Micathyst?”

“It’s a crystalline deposit found in the stomach of a Ceenak.”

“Double gross. What’s a Ceenak?”

“A massive creature that thrives in asteroid fields. Felorians used Kimera gems before we discovered the Ceenak by accident. The only gem that can create a stronger link than a micathyst is this,” she held the small amoradite pendant between two fingers. 

“Amoradite? Have you ever used it?”

“No, and I have no intention.”

In truth, she’d been afraid to use amoradite in that manner all her life. The connection it was said to create would put the user in direct contact with the recipient’s emotions, senses, thoughts, and motor control - as if they were the same being. 

Her fear derived from a story she had heard when she was younger than Terra. The story was about a woman named Eneiya who used it on her life-bonded, Kirra, to turn the tide of battle with the Xox over a hundred years ago. She was on a command ship, and her other was in a fighter that was pulled into a jump rift the Xox vessel created. Kirra’s ship delivered the final blow that destroyed the Xox Scar - their ship - but hers was caught in the blast and set adrift. They wouldn’t be able to get to her new location fast enough to save her, so Eneiya remained with her until Kirra died of her injuries. The disconnection left her empty and alone. 

She knew this story from a very young age, because her younger sister was named after Eneiya - the hero who’s selfless sacrifice and bravery saved Feloria. Eneiya and Kirra were very common felorian female names. Kiran was a male form.

Selke was afraid that disconnecting from the one she used it on would leave her just as hollow. It was too dangerous for anyone but the studious monks of her world to attempt and retain their sanity. They trained their entire lives to strengthen their mental fortitude and develop their telepathic abilities.

Yune had no clue that amoradite could be used by Felorians in that way. And since Selke refused to do so, it remained simply a beautiful symbol of his promise. And, admittedly, accented every outfit she owned.

She hesitated and looked to the girl taking aim for another series of shots at the targets. “Why the sudden interest?”

She shrugged in an identical motion to Will’s mannerism. One of them picked it up from the other. “Just curious. You don’t really talk about yourself. I want to know who you are.”

“Hm.” Yune was right. She was still pulling away. “I guess I could learn to be more open. After all, you are family.” Selke set the hover sled to drift up to the open area on the catwalk for unloading. “Here. Make yourself useful. Catch this and take it to the kitchen, ok? Unload the pallet and bring it back. We need to take some gear to the engine room,” she tapped the button that would raise the push pallet to the catwalk level.

“Got it!” Terra ran up the steps to grab it and pulled it over. She hurried through the door and up the small cargo lift to deck three. She did as she was instructed and returned with the sled. 

Selke searched around the cargo bay in irritation. “Can you ask Yune where he put the electromagnetic quad cycler relay unit? We need to keep that hooked up to the core. We have a long trip ahead of us, and it’ll let us sustain FTL longer than average.”

“Ok, but why can’t we just use jump points?”

“We will, but too many flash jumps in a row drains the core, you know that. FLT between jumps gives us time to recharge it. We’re taking the long way to Nileia. We need to get there without leaving any trace of ourselves behind.”

They’d been told the reason for choosing Nileia was to give them a temporary planetary home in order to learn lessons only obtained on the surface. Terra had been living in space for so long, it was hard to picture living on a planet again. Every time she set foot on one for their brief stops, it felt weird. Still, she looked worried about being cooped up on the ship for what promised to be months. “We’re stopping along the way, right? Please say yes.”

“Oh hell yes. You think I’m taking a four month trip without breaks stuck in this tin can with those two chuckleheads?” 

She couldn’t feel more relieved. She loved Will, but there were times when she needed to be alone. The same was true for him. That’s why she’d moved to her own room across the hall two years ago, and the two of them reactivated the locks on their doors. 

Terra headed up the U shaped stairs to deck two to ask about the engineering equipment. 

 

****

Meanwhile, on the bridge, Will wrestled with the controls in the middle of a simulation with Yune coaching from behind the copilot’s chair.

“Ease her up. There ya go. You got through the mine zone without a scratch. Good job. Now, you’ve got an asteroid field straight ahead. Think you can handle this?”

“It’s just a bunch of space rocks. I’ve played Asteroids on my dad’s office computer before. Can’t be that hard,” Will’s fingers tensed up. He was staring unblinking at the holographic screen blocking out the starfield of reality with the image. 

He knew that was a pure lie. “Loosen up. Relax. You’re too tense. You’re not driving a bucket of bolts, here. You’re not just controlling the ship, you’re working with her. Think of the ship as an extension of yourself. If you listen to what she has to say, she’ll never let you down.” 

Will nodded automatically, but didn’t understand a word of that. “Got it. I got this.”

Yune tapped on the ops station to his left by and the field appeared on Will’s screen. “Go.”

Will pushed the virtual ship forward through the field. He clenched his teeth as his fingers made adjustments on the control panel. He maneuvered around asteroids of varying sizes spinning carelessly in every direction. Unable to do this by console controls alone, he switched to manual and a dual-handled joystick pulled up out of the console. The ‘ship’ wove between rocks, spun, and dove, then lifted upward and banked right, then left. Will pulled back hard on to narrowly scrape the bottom of the vessel against an asteroid. “Yeah!”

However, he didn’t see the massive rock ram into his side. “Ah!” The screen greyed out and big letters in red reading ‘YOU ARE DEAD’ flashed up over the image.

“Ah, man!” He shoved the joystick back.

“Not bad, Sparky.”

“Not bad? I died! Again!” 

“Hey, you made it to the asteroid field this time. You never got that far before. Consider that a victory.”

Will slouched and folded his arms. “Yeah, a victory of Suck.” 

“You may have sucked, but you sucked less than a lot of people. That was a simulation of the Ephypsan asteroid field. One of the most dense fields in the known galaxy to get through. And you got,” he checked the readouts, “one-tenth of the way in.”

“What?! That’s all?!”

“Consider yourself lucky. If you get half way through, you’re one of the best. If you make it out alive,” he brought up an image of the actual field on the forward view. The center was a massive cluster of asteroids so dense, a ship the size of the Horizon would barely fit between the gaps, “you’re a legend.”

“How far have you gotten?”

“Well, I don’t want to brag, but…” he puffed up with pride, “you’re looking at the only man in his class to get through it in one piece.”

“Whoa. So you’re a legend?”

He accepted the praise with a silent smirk. “To some.” Will didn’t need to know that class was at the Regent academy on Mikra. He had a feeling cadets for the past twenty or so years have been trying to beat his score. He would honestly like to meet any person who did and shake their hand.

Now, at some point in his life, Will wanted to make it through the field and beat Yune’s score. He pointed at a bright point in the center cluster. “What’s that?”

“That’s the Ephypsan Aurora Star.”

Will leaned forward in a skeptical look. It didn’t look anything like the star left for the One Thousand. “ _ That’s  _ an Aurora Star? Are you sure?” 

“Yup. Over the centuries, it gained a few friends.”

“Is that why the center is so dense? Because of the gravitational pull of the star? Is it even big enough to have its own gravity field?”

“Well, Aurora Stars are small, so it’s a weak one, but that’s the going theory.” He patted the boy on the shoulder. “Take a break for a while and go run a few laps around the ship.”

Will pouted, “But, I wanna go again.”

“You’ve been at this for an hour. A good pilot knows to pace himself.”

Will grumbled, but got up just as Terra came running onto the bridge. 

“Aunt Selke wants to know if we got the electric magnet quarter bicycle,” she blurted out.

Both he and Yune blinked in confusion. “Huh?” 

“An electric magnetic cubed icicle. For the engine core.”

It dawned on Yune what she meant. “Oh, the electromagnetic quad cycler relay unit. Yeah. I already took it to the engine room. Tell her she can install it when she has a chance.”

“Ok!” She took off back to the cargo bay.

Yune tapped the boy on his shoulder and sat in the pilot’s seat. “Go take your run.” He dropped the ship out of FTL. They would make the first jump as soon as Selke could get that relay hooked up. With her skills, it wouldn’t take long. They were in the middle of open space, so there was no need to stay in FTL any longer. They could travel leisurely at sublight speed for a while.

Unhappy, Will left the bridge and broke into a light jog down to the lowest deck to circle it and work his way up, then back down. Terra passed off her music player as he jogged by her in the aft portion of deck two without a word between them. He put in the earbuds and let the beat of REM’s ‘It’s the End of the World’ drown out the sounds of the ship.

He passed by Selke attaching the relay unit, jogged around the upper level surrounding the squat core swirling with ephypsan particles and plasma, and back over the cargo hold to the steps. 

He made it the second round up to deck three - the living quarters and lounge area - when the ship violently bucked to the side. 

The lights flickered as he was thrown across the hall and slammed into the wall. He hit the floor. The ship continued to jolt. Power conduits burst behind the bulkhead, and the Horizon itself made a deep, grinding, clanging noise as though it screamed. Inner bulkheads ruptured, anything loose was sent flying, and alarms declaring hull breaches blared throughout the ship. A shower of sparks exploded from behind a nearby wall panel, blowing it out to clatter on the floor. He screamed and stumbled into the lounge.

The power went out, plunging the ship into darkness lit only by the light of the stars beyond the windows. 

The ship finally stilled. 

Seconds later, emergency power came online and the alarms quieted. 

Confused and disoriented, he stuffed the earbuds into his pocket. Every main part of the ship lit with a dim red hue. His heart raced. He crawled to lean against the window of the lounge and regain his bearings. The stars were the only source of true light. His head throbbed from pain, and a thin stream of blood dripped down above his right eye. 

Terra...he had to get to Terra. Will stumbled from a wave of dizziness. He’d struck his head, but didn’t care. He could sense where she was - one deck below close to the storage room in the aft section - but he needed to see for himself that she was all right. The Altairan energy within him drew him toward her. He didn’t know how he could tell, but she was injured as well. He needed to get to her. He would panic more later. 

 

The tactical station behind Yune had blown out, Silent alarms flickered all over his panel as system after system sent in damage reports. The Horizon acted as though it had just been in a multi-ship collision with...nothing. Yune crawled back into the pilot’s seat and surveyed the damage. “Talk to me, girl.” If what he felt was any indication, the ship was in bad condition. External sensors refused to respond, as did his viewscreen. He had only a visual through the broad cockpit iridesteel, and he saw nothing. They were in open space. There was nothing out here besides dust. Was this a hit and run? In the middle of nowhere? “What the actual fuck?”

He switched on the com to the engine room. It barely functioned. “Selke. Come in. Do you read me? Selke.”

 

Yune’s voice pulled her back to consciousness. Selke pushed herself up to her hands and knees and pressed her palm to the left side of her head. She’d been thrown over the railing into the sunken in level around the core’s inner chamber and struck the edge of the containment unit. Thankfully, she only grazed it, or her injury could have been far worse. A line of blood drew down her face. A coolant line had ruptured and poured steam into the upper area of the inner chamber.

[Selke?]

She got to her feet quickly and stumbled to a control station to divert power away from that coolant unit to the other eight to make up the difference. With the immediate problem contained, she check the engine status. She answered the com. “I’m ok. Whatever we hit forced us to a full stop. The drive systems went into emergency shut down.” This safety protocol was meant to keep the core from continuing to push the ship, overheating, and thus tearing them apart vie core breach. “Four of the original relay units are damaged. It’ll take a few hours of repairs to get sublight engines back online.” Thankfully, the quad cycler wasn’t damaged.  “What the hell did we hit?” 

Yune’s voice crackled over the com. [Selke----breaking up----Sensors read noth----sys---down---. Emergenc---- only. ----hit some kind of typhon web --- Hold on ----picking up another --- We’ve been---!  Get the ki---!] the com cut to static. 

“Yune? Yune! Dammit.” She tried to reestablish the connection, but the damage had also affected communications. Attending to her wound would have to wait. She needed to get to the bridge and find out what her husband was trying to say, and make sure Will and Terra were all right. Finding them was her priority.

However, the critical information that Yune had tried to relay was that they were no longer alone on board the Horizon.

 

A red light glowed softly over Terra’s head. She sat up and held her right arm where blood oozed from a cut. Scared, in the dark, and in pain, she curled up, rested her head on her knees, and cried. Will...was he ok? What happened? Why did all the lights go out? “Uncle Yune?” she whimpered. “Aunt Selke? Will?”

No one answered. 

She focused on an image of Will’s face, and the power within her let her know that he was on the deck above. It moved restlessly with worry in her mind. Will was alive, but he was injured, too. 

Her arm hurt. She made her way to the medical bay across the deck and used her new knowledge to clean and dress the cut on her arm. Her tiny hands trembled as she adhered the bandage, but she managed it. Selke would be proud. She pocketed the rest of the first aid and disinfectant spray in her pink tunic. 

Still frightened, she opened the door of the medical bay, and ran straight into the thick, muscled arms of a complete stranger. 

She let out a scream just before the man muzzled her with his blue hand, lifted her off the ground, and carried her away. 

Acting on pure instinct, she pulled the Altairan energy from her core and sent it out in lancing threads that coursed up the man’s arms. 

He cried out at the sudden electrical jolt to his system, and dropped her. 

Terra ran up the u-stairs toward Will. She made it to the top just as he reached her, when a bind shot struck her in the back, then Will in the chest. She fell to the floor paralyzed. 

Their attacker, still twitching from the energy pulse, scooped her up and set her on the floor of her room while his companion who followed behind, set Will into his. 

The O’alli snatched the pulse pistol from Terra’s thigh holster and looked it over, amused that it was set permanently to its lowest setting. He gave a sinister grin. ‘Lotta good this did you. little runt.’ She must have had a taser on her before, and that’s why he was hit with an electrical charge. Or he could have brushed by a broken live power conduit from one of the many inner bulkhead breaches. 

As far as he was concerned, a new weapon was a new weapon. He would remove the lock later on. His partner in crime and he locked both doors. “Who gives a kid a gun anyway? Stupid, irresponsible heathens.” He wouldn’t let his only son touch a pulse pistol until he was sixteen. Those two humans had to be only ten. Maybe. Humans were incredibly careless with their young.

With the children secure, they took up guard as instructed by their leader. Their other team members would handle the Felorian and the Mik.

 

Yune stood ready with his pulse pistol out as the bridge door buzzed repeatedly. A static burst later from an EM node, and the door slid open. 

Three people strode through. 

The middle one was someone he didn’t expect to see, or want to see, again for the rest of his life. 

Marci fired off a blue bolt before he could twitch. It struck him in the right side. She knew he would have a split second of shocked hesitation at seeing her, so she used that to her advantage to gain the upper hand. 

He cupped the wound and slumped over, bracing himself against the pilot’s seat. 

“Nice to see you again, Yune.”

He hissed in air between his teeth from the pain. “Can’t say the same. How did you--”

“Find you? It wasn’t easy, but I got lucky. Now,” the red-haired Masakan leveled her pulse pistol at him, narrowing her purple eyes. “Get off my bridge.”

The two goons at her side - another Mik, and a Tagron - marched forward. 

Yune dove for helm control and speedily typed in a command. The console beeped in a quick, successive pattern. 

Marci fired off another blue bolt at his right leg, hitting him the back of the thigh. 

He cried out and dropped. 

Her lackey checked the screen. “He’s locked out command functions. We don’t have control of the ship.”

She cursed. “Stupid move, Darrak. Bring him.” 

Both men roughly grabbed Yune by his arms and hauled him down to the cargo bay level to the holding cell at the far forward portion of the bow. 

The cell, however, wasn’t empty. 

Selke watch the four of them approach. Her heart fell. Their home had been comendered by not only mercenaries, but a former friend. “Marci…”

The guard at the cell lowered the force field long enough for the other two to carelessly shove Yune through. 

He stumbled to the floor, clutching at his side. 

Selke eased him up to a sitting position. 

Marci smiled down at them, the jailer to her inmates. “We almost have another family reunion. This time the only one missing is Zaf.”

Selke looked up at their assailants. Another beefy Mik with long dark hair in a ponytail, had cornered her outside the airlock as the boarding party infiltrated the ship. They’d stunned her. When she woke up, she was in the cell. She glared at her former teammate. “You didn’t have to shoot him.”

“Yes, I did.”

She looked Yune over. The wounds were deep, and would require immediate medical attention, of which she knew Marci wouldn’t oblige. “What the hell do you want? How did you find us?”

“Is that all you two ask?” she holstered her weapon and folded her arms. “‘What do I want? How did I find you? Blah blah blah.’ Not even a ‘hello. Nice to see you again’ to an old friend?” she eyed Yune bitterly. “An old lover?”

He grimaced. “Mistakes of the past. I should have listened to my dad; ‘Never stick your dick in Crazy.’”

“We had a deal,” Selke disregarded that past with the sharpness of her words. That was under the bridge, and old news to her. She stood and moved as close to the force field as she could. “We promised never to cross paths again, and if we did, we would not engage the other.”

Marci shrugged and lowered her arms. “Sometimes it’s good to declare peace now and then,” she smirked. “It really throws off your enemies.” She looked over their demeanors and her smiled faded to disgust. “Wait a minute...Are you two…” she wagged her finger back and forth between them. 

Yune gave her a knowing stare, sure that her knowledge of his marital union to Selke would pissed her off. He was right.

“Uch,” she gagged. “I’m going to barf. But, I guess it makes sense. You always did have a soft spot for him. Even after you blinded him. Still, I can’t believe you married that mess.”

“Some of us value people as something more than just a tool, Marci,” she shot back.

“Well, I hope he’s more impressive for you than he was for me,” she sent her barb straight to his ego. 

He felt it. “Ouch.” Yune grunted as he clutched his side, more than happy to get back on track of the current situation. “The Horizon...is that all you’re after?” He knew since the moment he sniped the old light freighter out from under her nose that she’d sought after stealing it back for years. 

“This is  _ my  _ ship. You owe me for that incident on Masaka,” she jabbed. 

“I apologized for your car. It’s not my fault you can’t walk away gracefully when you lose,” he pushed the words through gritted teeth.

“What?” Selke looked to him for an explanation. 

“She stole the Eye of Shora from me.”

Selke’s mouth gaped, appalled. “You stole the Eye of Shora?”

“No,  _ I _ didn’t. Avik Covall did. I was hired to return it. So was Zaf.  _ She  _ was going to pawn it,” he paused to let a wave of pain pass. 

“That is a sacred relic of my people.”

Marci snorted. “Like I give a damn about that. It’s the largest refined amoradite gem in the known galaxy. It’s worth millions of any currency, and all those monks do is worship it on their mount top. I was robbed of my right for recompense. And now I’m taking it back.”

She tapped the com node again. “Captain Pell to the Kellose. Rig the ship to tow the Horizon and lay in a course for the nearest starpost.”

[Aye, sir.]

“What’s our ETA?”

[One hour at FTL two.]

“That’s the fastest we can go?”

[Any faster than that will cause serious structural integrity loss to the Horizon, and put strain on the Kellose. We can’t raise our shields while towing another ship. If it explodes, we’ll be caught in the blast.]  

“Fine. Contact me when we’re close to the starpost. Pell; out.” 

“You’re not getting that lockout code,” Yune swore. 

“Oh, I’ll get it, make no mistake,” she stepped as close to the field as she could get. “I think I have a way to coax it out of you. Which ties in to the other reason why I’m here, I need answers.”

“About what,” he growled. 

“There are two other humans on this ship. They’re children, but they don’t carry an identifying origin marker. They’re not Masakan, Terran, Mik, or Kes. Care to explain that?”

Selke’s teeth ground as her heart lurched up into her throat. “You leave them out of this. This is between us.”

“Not anymore. I accepted this job because it meant getting my ship back. Gaining information on a couple of brats was secondary, but as soon as I saw the scan readout - or lack thereof - I became curious as to why Revi was willing to pay me so much to learn about them. So, I placed a tracker on your ship while you were out playing Family with the kiddies. I hadn’t even known you were on Karuus until he called me.”

“Revi,” Yune snarled the name like the curse. He remembered the small man’s interest in why Yune claimed family rights with Will and Terra, but dismissed it as vague curiosity. There was no way he had a scanner containing Altair DNA. “Why?”

“This,” Marci fished a palm sized, ten-sided light-grey metal disk with a circular indentation in the center ringed in extremely faded blue light. “The boy with you touched it in his shop, and suddenly,” she clicked the center button. A shield formed a second skin over her body in a flicker of blue energy. She clicked it again and the shield dissipated, “it works. Not very well, but it functions.” She held up the Xox personal shield generator. “He wants to know why, and quite frankly, so do I.”

Both Yune and Selke were struck speechless. 

“How did that kid activate Xox technology?”

“We have no idea,” Selke said.

“Liar! No one can get this shit to work, and yet a runt that barely comes up to Reeg’s waist,” she nodded to the tall Tagron next to her, “did.”

Neither said a word. They had their suspicions, but to voice it would condemn the children to their greatest fear as their guardians; death, imprisonment, or slavery. Yune deflected entirely. “What’s your group’s name again?” he taunted her, “The Bed Wetters?”

“Night Wraiths,” she growled through restrained anger. She looked down on him with disgust. “Not going to answer me? Fine.” She turned her back. Looking at him right now made her sick, and his insult only fueled the fire of her next sinister move. She tapped the com node at her ear. “Jaret, Keeg. Do you read me?”

[Loud and clear.]

“Keeg and Reeg?” Selke raised an eyebrow. 

Marci shrugged. “Twins. They came as a packaged deal with the crew.” She turned her next order to the man on the other end. “We’re moving to the next phase. Bring the girl down to the holding cell.”

[Aye, captain.]

“No,” Selke reacted in fear for Terra’s life. “Leave her alone. She’s done nothing.”

“Exactly,” Marci’s reaction was colder than frozen plasma. “The boy is the one who activated the tech.”

Yune picked up easily that in her mind, that meant Terra was expendable. “Even you’re not that heartless.”

Her stone-purple glare said otherwise. “Try me.”

Her com crackled to life. [She’s gone, captain.] Jaret, the O’alli, relayed.

That frigid stance was instantly erased by frustration. “What do you mean, ‘gone?’”

[I mean ‘absent from their previously occupied space.’]

Marci’s eyebrows knit in weary annoyance. Apparently, this kind of sass was common on her ship from this crew member. It made sense. O’alli were very blunt.

[The girl and the boy are both missing. We’d sealed their doors, but their rooms are empty. They must have used the access hatches in the ceilings, but we can’t see a way they could have reached them.]

It took Yune a lot to keep from smiling at this snag in Marci’s plans. That reason was exactly why they were never grounded to their rooms after he learned they could somehow get out. He’d never found more than a chair they stood on, and that wasn’t nearly high enough for their small arms to reach the ceiling. Neither of them were four-and-a-half-feet tall yet. He never figured out how they’d pulled off their magicians escape.

Marci’s face contorted. Though she could normally be considered beautiful by Masakan standards, right now she was the ugliest being in the cosmos. “We’ve disconnected from the Kellose. They can’t get off the ship, They’re here somewhere. Find them!”

She cut the com and succumbed to her impatience. “Those kids don’t have identifying genetic markers. Why? What are they?”

“They’re just children,” Selke finally spoke up. “Learn to fix your faulty equipment.”

She held up a datadot and scanned the two through the force field. “Seems to pick up you two just fine.” She eyed Yune. “I’ll ask you again. And I suggest you consider answering me this time.”

“Over my dead body,” He cursed low. 

“Trust me, I want to make that a reality,” she purred low and vile. 

She nodded to Reeg. “Guard them,” then to the other Mik. “Urik, Work on stabilizing the ship’s engines. Make sure the clothesline didn’t damage them beyond repair. We don’t need to blow up on our way back.” The Mik wordlessly left to perform the task. 

“Clothesline?” Yune asked. “The typhon particle web”

“Like it? One of my men adapted it from its basic use as a tether in shipyards. We’ve caught three ships this way in the last two months. It’s my personal favorite. Hard to detect if you’re not looking for it,” she smiled like a toddler sharing their treasured toy. “It’s like the ship hits a live electrical wire. It disables the systems, allows us to board, and incapacitate the crew. Depending on the damage, we can either repair it or tow it. The Horizon hit it like a brick wall. It really did a number on my bird. Repairing her will take a few days.” 

“Without access to the main computer, you’ll just have a galactic paper weight,” Yune held firm. 

She turned her devil glare to Yune and Selke trapped in the holding cell. “If my men can’t find those little brats before we reach the starpost, and if you don’t explain this,” she held up the Xox shield generator, “then, well,” her lips turned up slightly in a malicious grin that dripped of cruel thoughts, “I’d hate for them to be accidentally locked inside the ship during a macryon scrub. I hear it’s a very painful way to die.”

She left them alone to let the image of those kids disintegrated by a starship macryon radiation scrubber stew in their brains. It was meant to sanitise ships of all vermin, Oobo, pathogens, bacteria, and other unsavory guests picked up through space. All biological material would be erased. Some stowaways had met a painful death in the past due to not adhering to an evacuation order before the scrub. To leave the ship meant they’d be captured and likely killed depending on the system the starpost was in. A macryon scrub was standard procedure for any self-respecting captain of all walks of life. Which was why macryon scrub stations were considered neutral ground. 

Selke’s urgency heightened. She searched for a way out. 

“Don’t waste your time,” Yune inhaled sharply from pain washing through his ribs. “I modified this place for Sparky and Squeaker. If they can’t get out, neither can we.” 

The food reformer was completely isolated from the rest of the ship beyond power needs. Nutrient packets were stored in the drawer below it. It had no access to the main computer system, and contained multiple layers of inderite shielding. The entire inner bulkhead was lined with cortanium - a completely non-conductive material - and coated with duranite to keep the kids from frying the circuitry in an attempt to deactivate the particle barrier. It was redesigned through two years of trial and error to hold them in case they turned volatile, lost control of their powers, or put the ship in extreme danger. He made it Altair proof.

To top that off, his initial enhancement years ago tied in the holding cell’s adapted Masakan force field to run on emergency power should anything happen to the main systems. That way, if he was transporting a bounty, they wouldn’t get out. 

Selke paced in front of the sleeping cot jutting out from the wall beneath the window. “We can’t just sit here.”

“I have no intentions,” he grunted from pain and scooted back to lean up against the wall, ‘of just sitting here.” But at the same time, he had no idea how to get out, how to get a message to Will and Terra, or how to save his ship. Of the many things he’d learned at the Regent academy, there was always an alternative. The problem was finding it. 

She knelt by him and removed her jacket to lay it over his side to keep him warm. “We need to get you to med bay.”

“It’s not that bad. I’ve had worse. Remember,” he grit his teeth, “remember that mission to retrieve that dirty old cup from Akerith?”

“It was a sacred chalice that got us a lot of money.” She moved to sit behind him so he could rest against her instead of the cold, unforgiving wall. “Easy. Don’t move too much. We might be able to convince Marci to get you medical attention at the starpost.” 

"She'll let me die, and we both know it." He held both her hands in his. “Our concern...is Will and Terra,” he whispered. He breathed hard, gripping her hand from the pain. “Marci can’t...find them.”

“I hope they’re smart enough to stay hidden while we figure something out.”

“Come on. We both know…” he blinked as his vision blurred. “It’s them.”

“You’re right,” she exhaled and squeezed his hand back in reassurance. They both knew those kids very, very well, and staying out of trouble was not one of their strong points. “We need to find a way out now.” 

He leaned against her to rest and let the brush of her hand through his hair sooth him. He knew if he didn’t get medical attention at the starpost, he may not make it from the severity of his wounds. He needed to stay strong and alive for his family. They would come up with something. But right now, he needed her to be his heart. 

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #17: The Akerith Mission was the mission Selke had to use the micathyst gem on Yune in order to get him through the complicated labyrinth. A heavy electromagnetic storm had garbled communications. The Akerith species were non-verbal. She’d had to study their culture and instruct Yune telepathically on what to do in order to remain alive, then guide him out of the labyrinth after he’d lost his map in a fight on the surface and got locked inside. She’d learned more about him in those two days than in all the years leading up to that point.


	18. The Dark side of Heroes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will and Terra escape their rooms. Will encounters one of the alien pirates in the access tunnels, and is forced to confront him, as well as a situation no person - let alone a ten year old - should have to face; questioning whether or not you were created to be a monster.

###  **Chapter 18**

_ At the same time during the Horizon’s take-over… _

 

The O’alli laid Terra on her left side on the purple decorative floor rug of her room. All she could see of her sideways view was the back of the large alien as he stepped out into the hall and closed the door after taking Lucy - her pulse pistol. The beep of the door lock felt as heavy as the leather straps that secured her to the medical bed at Strafsend. The stars from the window beside her bed offered only their cold, distant light as comfort to the dimly lit red darkness. 

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t even speak. Without control over any part of her body, her mind burst with memories of her time in the Regent facility. She remembered the glaring lights over her bed, the holographic outline of her own self hovering inches above her and flickering with blue light, the fear that this would hurt like all the other times, ...and the energy presence from Will that she held onto to fight. 

Their shared dreams through the inclusion processes were the only thing to give her courage.

She hadn't experienced a PTSD flashback from Strafsend in a long time. Will was with her every time to help her through it - and she to him. Now it was just her, alone.

The last time she was hit with a bind blast was on the day she was taken from the playground on Earth. The Regent officer on board the Morning Star had administered a quick-relieving agent that counteracted the paralysis, and offered soothing words that she would be ok. 

This time she didn’t have that. She had to endure the few minutes it would take for the bind to naturally wear off.  _ I’m scared,  _ she thought. She could hardly move her eyelids. Her heart thundered in her chest as she felt helpless, exposed, and alone. 

_ I can’t move! I can’t move! _

_ Will?  _ That was his voice. It was as clear as if he were in the room with her. 

_ Terra! Help! _

It was him. He was paralyzed across the hall, and just as frightened. In her current state, his voice was the most welcoming thing she could ask for, even if it was crying out in panic. She recalled her conversation with Selke earlier that day and focused on an image of him. She put as much reassurance as her terrified mind could push through.  _ It’ll be ok. Don’t be scared,  _ she thought as a reminder to herself and to him - if he could even hear her.  __

His frantic thoughts trapped inside his imobile body hushed as her voice overpowered them. Was it her, or was he so desperate that he imagined her? Will lay on his right side and blinked at the door, slowly getting control back. Those words helped him wait out the bind’s effects. 

Gradually, her muscles relaxed. She rolled to her back and stared at the ceiling, taking deep breaths as more and more of her body returned to her control. She began to cry again, but saw a vision of Will in the same position within his room, and calmed down. He was already thinking of a way out. She knew he was. He hated being trapped as much as she did. 

“Who are they? What do they want?” she whispered to the ceiling. 

“Space pirates? How did they even get on board? ” Will mumbled. He didn’t physically hear her, but he had the sense of what she would say.

“Why haven’t Aunt Selka and Uncle Yune come to get us yet?” 

“Something must be wrong.” His brain was still foggy from the panic induced by the bind, and the blow he took to the head. 

They saw the stars morph into FTL lines. “We’re moving,” they both said. But neither had heard the familiar deep hum of the engines. An odd, pale green light fluctuated through it. That wasn’t part of FTL at all. 

“We need to get out of here before they come back.” 

“They locked the door. But maybe...” Will had an idea as his mind cleared and he remembered their first few instances of being grounded before Yune figured out they could escape. 

“Same way as before?” Terra asked the ceiling. 

“Same way as before,” Will answered the felt, but unheard, question. 

They both sat up and pulled their solid-backed desk chairs over to the middle of the room. 

The access hatches in both of their cabins promised freedom. They could get out through there. 

She stood on the black cushion of the silver chair and stared upward, waiting. This was the way it worked. He always came to get her. 

Will put on the dark grey jacket Yune had bought for him on the lunar colony. If he was going to be like Indiana Jones sneaking around the bad guys, he needed to dress the part. 

He stood on his chair and raised his right arm toward the hatch. With a thought of what he wanted to accomplish, he summoned his power. 

Thin tendrils of luminescent bio-electric energy slipped up away from his arm and reached through the solid surface of the hatch. He envisioned the handle turning. In response, the energy coiled around the bar and mimicked the motion. The seal broke, and the square door slid into the ceiling to reveal the crawl space above. 

He exhaled and recalled the energy. He braced himself on the chair from another wave of vertigo from his head wound, and waited for it to pass. 

Now came the hard part. 

This was difficult to do when he was in perfect health. Pulling off this trick might not work because of his injuries, but he had to try. 

He remembered the way he’d run through space in his first dream during Phase One of the inclusion process. All of his focus went to this one task. Will lifted his right foot, keeping his eyes locked on his target: the crawl space. 

Altairan energy drew out of his leg down to form a disk beneath his black shoe. 

He put pressure on it and lifted himself up. It held.

Another formed beneath his left foot, and steadily, he climbed up thin air. 

Two more steps, and his head entered the access hatch. He pulled himself up to sit and flopped back, exhaling hard. The disks disappeared the second he broke his concentration. He smiled at the victory. Now to get Terra. ...And maybe a nap. Creating the disks didn’t work every time, but on the few occasions he’d managed it, it had taken all of his focus. 

He closed the hatch and fought his pounding headache. He placed his hand against the metal floor, but his body froze.The emergency lights didn’t work in the tunnels. It was as dark as the galactic void. Acting on impulse, he created a small sphere. It lit up the immediate area. He held it out in front of them as he crawled around to Terra’s room. 

She was there waiting for him when he slid the hatch open. Her smile said, ‘I knew you’d come get me.’ 

He laid on his belly and reached down. The silent words in his expression said, ‘I’ll never leave you behind.’

The energy between them coiled around their arms and braided together to form a rope of blue plasma. He strained and pulled until she reached the edge, then grabbed her hand and helped her up. 

He leaned against the wall, panting from the exertion, fatigue, and dizziness. He felt slightly nauseous. “My head hurts.” . 

She put some of the disinfectant she’d grabbed from the medical bay on his head and pressed the patch to the wound between his hair as best she could. “Selke needs to look at you. Are you gonna be ok?”

“Yeah. I’ll be fine. I’ve had worse.”

“You sound like Yune,” she nudged him. 

He mumbled and leaned his head back against the wall. “I’m tired. I’m gonna take a nap.”

“No,” She pressed her hands to either side of his face. “I’ve been studying first aid, and if you got hit on the head, you might have a concussion. It’s really bad if you do. You can’t sleep. Stay awake, ok?” 

“Ok.” 

Terra lifted his hand and laced her fingers through his. As before, as they had done more times than they could count, she let her will to treat his wound dull his pain. 

His headache subsided, but didn’t disappear. “Thanks. Your arm?”

“It’s fine. This spray has a numbing agent. I’m ok.” She closed the hatch, sealing off their only light source. 

Will created a new sphere and stuck it to the back of his right hand. “The ladder to deck two isn’t far. Come on. We gotta find them. I have a really bad feeling about all this.” 

“Onward, Skywalker,” she joked, using Nick and Derrick’s old nickname for him. 

They crawled side by side carefully around the corner to the passage that opened up to the access tunnel below within the wall. Will sent down a small zephyr ball ahead of them to light the way, and climbed down the metal rungs first. He landed in a crouch and scooted out of the way to make room for her. He created another orb. Muffled voices below their feet made them stop. 

A slim, tall, Tagron was talking to an O’alli. 

“I don’t know how they got out,” the O’alli male said. “You were up there guarding the doors.”

“Nothing slips by me, Jaret,” The Tagron tapped his finger at his own chest. “I have vision sharper than a Elness arrow hawk. They did not leave their rooms once.”

“Then explain it.”

The other was silent. 

The O’alli growled. “We should have thrown them into the holding cell with the others.”

Will and Terra glanced to each other, both knowing where they needed to go next. He was right. The ship had been infiltrated by space pirates.

“If they’re hiding in the access tunnels, then we can flood it with Perasin gas and choke them out,” the Tagron grinned with glee at his own plan. 

“Perasin gas is deadly to humans, you moron. We don’t want them dead yet. We don’t have access to it anyway. We’re locked out of the system.”

Terra whispered to Will. “If Yune locked them out, then how come we’re in FTL?” 

“We’re probably being towed somewhere,” he whispered back.

Jaret’s booming voice interrupted them as he dragged his companion to the nearest rungs leading to an access hatch halfway down the hall. “Get in there and find them.”

“Me and cramped spaces don’t get along.”

The O’alli raised the pulse pistol set to high and powered it up. “I’ll give you one good reason to better your relationship.” 

The Tagron’s red eyes widened as he held up his knobby hands. “I think we can work something out.”

And that was their cue to move it. 

Will and Terra began crawling as fast as possible. 

They froze at the sound of a clang and grunt as the Tagron heaved himself into the crawl space. 

For the kids, the access tunnels were fun and spacious enough to move through. But for an adult, it was a tight squeeze. Yune hated running maintenance checks, so he would often send one of the two smaller humans in for the very basic stuff. 

“Remember, Keeg,” the O’alli’s voice carried through the open hatch, “Grab the girl. We’ll deal with the boy later.”

Will’s protective mode kicked into gear. “Go. Go,” he urged her head of him. Both moved as quickly as they could until they came to a split in the tunnel where it continued to the other side of the ship, and lead down to deck one. They quickly descended the rungs and hurried forward with the zephyr sphere stuck to the top of Will’s hand lighting their way.

These tunnels could be creepy during normal days. With the ship being towed dead in space, and no lights to guide them, it held the horror vibe of a gruesome science fiction movie. Will’s mind filled with images of killer aliens lunging at him from the darkness, and he’d be trapped in a small space with nowhere to run. At this moment, he wished he didn’t have an active imagination.

The heavy sound of the Tagron hitting the bottom of the ladder echoed through the tunnel. “Where are you, you stupid brats.” 

“Let’s split up and meet at the cube,” Will whispered. “I’ll draw him away, and you go tell Uncle Yune and Aunt Selke we’re here.”

“Ok. Be careful.” 

“Easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

She created her own light and went left. He went right. 

The Cube was a larger storage hub directly above the center of the cargo bay. It connected four access points that lead to engineering, around and up to deck one, to the manual controls for environmental and weapons, and to a round hub beneath the bridge holding the computer core sealed off by a shielded bulkhead. 

The tubes in this part of the ship were a cramped maze, but due to the wider design of deck one, allowed for this kind of easy access mess that the kids knew every turn to. 

The two could easily move around the Cube, and had just enough head room to stand up. Yune - at six feet tall - would have to be on his knees. It held a couple of old cases Will was sure the Mik bounty hunter forgot existed. It wasn’t easy to get to without taking the hover sled all the way up to unlock the hatch, so it became their hiding spot. This was where he’d found Terra when she’d ran away.

The coolest part was that the angled ceiling above all four ports helped the cube to act as a resonance chamber. With the hatches to the other tubes closed, sound bounced around perfectly. 

Will waited for the flashlight of the intruder to come into view. He waved the small zephyr ball back and forth. “Hey, Dingus McButtsniffer! I’m over here, lizard face!”

Keeg, snarled and hastened his pace. 

Will crawled around a corner, intending on losing him in the loop around the cargo bay. The metal clanged softly as he moved. “Hah hah! Too slow, loser. Is your butt too big for the tunnel?”

“I don’t care what Jaret says about you. I’m gonna break your neck, you little pip squeak.”

“Oo, I’m so scared. Look at me shaking like a chihuahua.”

The Tagron blinked. “What’s a chihuahua.”

“An annoying yappy little dog. Like you.” Will stopped at a T intersection to give the alien a long, obnoxious raspberry. 

That pissed him off. Keeg withdrew his pulse pistol, took aim, and fired at the end of the tunnel. 

The blue bolt barely missed Will’s foot and left a scorch mark on the bulkhead. He scrambled backwards, scooted around the next corner, and hurried to the split that would loop him around. 

Only instead of his plan to freedom, a part of the tunnel had collapsed in from the impact with the typhon particle web. Sparks shot out from the broken conduit. The only clear direction came do a dead end a few feet away. Will spun to shine the sphere on his enemy. 

The Tagron’s bulk blocked the exit. His flashlight blinded Will, and he smiled as the other brought his hand up to shield his eyes. “You’re trapped like a dying oobo. Nowhere to run. Not so mouthy now, are ya.” He prowled closer. 

Will backed up against the wall. The Tagron’s shark-like intent turned him into one of the imaginary lethal aliens in the dark. All bravado was swallowed whole by fear. 

Keeg leveled the pulse pistol at him. “Marci simply needs your beating heart. If I shoot you in the leg, I can still drag you back alive. Or, you could tell me how you activated Xox technology and I  _ might  _ leave you in one piece.”

“I-what? I never did that. You’re nuts.” 

“The personal shield generator. You touched it and it activated. Tell me how you did it, or I’ll kill you here,” he inched closer. 

“Stay back!” Will held out his hand with the zephyr sphere in his palm. 

“What is that?” He narrowed his eyes for a better look. It wasn’t coming from a flashlight or other tech. The human child was creating it. That wasn’t a natural part of that species’ evolution. If it were, they would all have that ability.

He knew how to get the boy to talk. Keeg moved forward, a predator stalking his prey. “That girl dies either way. Then again, she might make a good slave. I’d get a good price for her.”  

“No!” 

A blast of blue energy impacted the floor directly in front of his face. It halted him. He covered his eyes from the bright burst of light. Confused, he looked up at the human glaring at him with a mix of fear and determination. 

“You stay away from Terra!”

What caught his attention again was another sphere of power forming in his palm. “You’re no human. You’re a mystery. I’ll rip you open right here to find out what you are.” Another blast struck the wall close to his left ear, sending energy tingling along that side of his face. 

“Don’t come any closer! I’m warning you!”

Keeg’s eyes lit up when the realization hit home. “That’s how you did it. That energy you create. That’s how you powered the shield.” he though back to the blue illumination within the personal shield generator. “No one can use their technology but them. Which means only one thing,” he laughed in glee at his extraordinary find. “You’re Xox.”

Will’s eyes widened as every thought shattered to the accusation. His blood ran cold and his arm began to tremble. That couldn’t be true. He was human. He couldn’t possibly be the enemy that destroyed his homeworld. 

Keeg luxuriated in the powerful waves of uncertainty and confusion from the child. Visions of profit filled is mind of all the functioning Xox technology he could sell by using this strange creature’s power. “To hell with Marci. I’m guessing that girl is just like you. There might be two of you,” he aimed again at Will’s forehead and the gun charged up to kill, “but I only need one.” 

Will screamed in primal survival and let another sphere fly. It struck Keeg in the face. Another one shot from his hand like a bullet and struck its target again in the chest. Keeg lunged forward, grabbing onto Will’s ankle as energy coursed over his body, making him spasm. 

Terrified, Will sent a final strong sphere point blank between the alien’s red eyes. 

Blue electricity swam over his body in a wicked strobe, turning his gaping mouth and wide eyes into the visage of a beast from hell. 

Keeg’s fingers tightened over Will’s ankle as he gurgled and screamed from the energy ravaging his nervous system.the trigger.

The blue bolt missed and hit the wall directly behind him. Will felt the heat of it burn past his right ear.

Keeg’s red eyes dilated as he lurched in one final attempt, but his control over his own body failed him, and he collapsed. 

Will ripped the alien’s long-fingered hand away and pulled his knees up. He stared at the twitching body as tendrils of Altairan energy flickered in dying lines along his frame. Eventually, he was left in darkness once more. The only light came from Keeg’s discarded flashlight. 

Aside from the small involuntary motions triggered by the current, Keeg didn’t move. 

He had only wanted to stop the Tagron from hurting him and then going after Terra, so he reacted. His control was brushed aside in favor of survival. He brought up his trembling hand. The power that came out of him caused this. 

Will was capable of ending a life. 

That’s what the scientists at Strafsend were afraid of. That’s why he and Terra were always kept sedated, and why they tried to convince them to return to their rooms of their own free will instead of forcibly taking them away from Yune and Selke. They were afraid of being killed. 

He shook his head violently against the thought, triggering a sharp headache from his head wound. No, that couldn’t be true. He would never go that far. Their super power was given to them to save the galaxy, not murder people. And yet the body in front of him told him otherwise. 

His uncle would ground him forever for this. 

No...he would be sent to a penal colony for this. At ten galactic years old - thirteen on Earth - William Kade had become a murderer. 

His stomach turned and he felt like throwing up. 

Keeg’s chest heaved from a deep, raspy breath. 

Will’s eyes shot open. Thank god, he was alive, still unconscious, but alive. 

He swallowed down the bile and stole his opportunity to squeeze by Keeg. As soon as he was clear, he scrambled away back to the Cube and closed the hatch. 

He scooted up next to one of the old cases in a corner, pulling his knees up to make himself as small as possible, and rested his head on his knees. A tiny orb of light sat on the instep of his foot, produced with hardly any thought at all, just so he wouldn’t have to sit in complete darkness. 

If they were made capable of murder, maybe it would have been better if Yune and Selke had left them at Strafsend. 

He didn’t want to ever leave the cube again. He deserved to be stuck in here for the rest of his life.

“Will!” Terra crawled in from the area leading to the bridge. “I found them! We can get them out of the holding cell, but there’s a guard, so--” She stopped, stunned when he looked up at her. His face was blanched, like he’d just witnessed Y2K all over again, and sweat streaked down his face. “What happened?”

His voice squeaked. “Terra, I... ”

She didn’t even need those words. She crossed the distance in a heartbeat and wrapped her arms tightly around him. 

He held on to the precious sanctuary she gave, as if she held his sanity. He pulled from her energy, which she willingly gave, and sobbed. “I was trapped. He...he was right there, he was gonna shoot me and--and then come after you and,.. but..., but I couldn’t let him. I couldn’t--I wouldn’t let him near you. He said...He--he said we’re Xox. But we can’t be. We can’t. S-so I hit him with my power, and I - I thought I’d…I...” he pressed his face into her shoulder. 

“We’re not Xox,” she assured him. “That’s dumb. He lied.”

“Then what are we?” he met her with pleading eyes, begging for an answer.

“We’re Will and Terra. You know that. We’ve always been that. It’s who we are.”

“But...but what we can do… we’re monsters, Terra,” he squeaked. “That’s what Doctor Barakan did to us.”

“No, he didn’t. He’s the monster. Not us.” she leaned back out of the hug. “We’re part of the One Thousand. We’re Humans and something else, but that something else isn’t a monster something.”

He sniffled. “But what if I had…”

“But you didn’t, right?”

He shook his head. 

She brought up his hand, and by her unspoken suggestion, he created a small glowing, sapphire blue energy sphere. The tiny orb on his foot absorbed back into him. “We’re supposed to use this to save the galaxy. Monsters don’t do that,” she touched her palm to the underside of his hand, adding her power through him to the sphere to keep it alive. “Heroes do.” 

He wiped at his eyes and nose with the back of his hand. “I don’t want to kill anyone.”

“So don’t,” she said with a soft smile. She took the orb, brightened it so its light filled the room and offered it back.  “Both of us. We just won’t.”

Don’t. Was it really as easy as that? When his instinct to survive and to protect her meant he would do it at all cost? It was up to him. Every decision he made with his power was his own; not the Regents, not his aunt or uncle’s, and not even Terra’s. His. He might make mistakes, but he would make sure to follow her one simple word to the best of his skill if faced with this situation again: ‘Don’t.’

He accepted it with her kindness. She was his heart and his voice of reason, just as he knew he was her heart and her courage. 

“Come on,” she let go of his hand to lead the way, “we need to save Uncle Yune and Aunt Selke.”

He nodded, finding his strength from her and followed. “Ok. What do we have to do?”

“Uncle Yune is really hurt. We need to open the holding cell and get him to med bay.”

“You said there’s a guard?”

“Yeah. One big ugly one.”

They would need to lure the guard away so they could get the code from Yune and deactivate the force field. “Do we know how many others are on the ship?”

“I overheard Aunt Selke tell Uncle Yune that one got her by the airlock, and I saw two others walk away from the cell. A Masakan lady and a tall human- probably a Mik.”

“And then there were the two guys who got us; that weird looking one called Keeg, and the O’alli he called Jaret.”

“That makes six.”

“The weird looking one is taking a nap, so that leaves five.” He stopped at a junction. “If we can split them up, we can knock them out and maybe throw their butts into the holding cell.”

“How do we do that? They’re all murderous pirates, and we’re just kids.”

“Yeah. We’re just kids,” Will smirked as an idea sparked to life. Planning a rescue strategy helped push back his previous panic attack. He was William Kade; adventurer-hero. “It’s our job to be annoying.”

They made their way back up to deck one. “First stop is the medical bay for supplies to help Uncle Yune,” Terra said.

“After that, we start Operation: Take-down. We’re getting our ship back.”

They stopped in front of the exit to the medical bay. This was one of a handful that opened out from the wall. “We can do this,” Terra took a deep breath and faced him. “We can save the ship and Aunt Selke, and Uncle Yune.”

“You’re damn right we will,” They knew the inside of this vessel almost as well as their aunt and uncle did. Two years of living here gave them a lot of time to explore. Will handed her the Altairan energy sphere and twisted the handle to unlock the hatch. “This is our home.” 

His brown eyes narrowed behind strands of thick, dark hair as he retracted the door into the wall. Faded crimson emergency power light bled into the dark access tunnel. “They’re on our turf, now.”

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #18: Particle beam weapons  
> (Pulse cannon, pulse pistol, pulse rifle, ect) - laser color factors:
> 
> Red - low range energy output. Used to disable, or incapacitate. Standard for all handheld weaponry. Lowest setting will bind the victim, paralyzing them for about five minutes, depending. A repeated shot within a close time proximity to the first will have less of an effect. Mid setting for Red will stun the victim, knocking them unconscious for around ten minutes, depending. Most commonly used setting. 
> 
> Blue - Mid-range energy output. Can kill. Can also be used to disable, injure, and maim. Will cause structural damage. All ships are set to this level at default. Altair energy is blue. Can shift to purple if the person is highly focused or highly charged.
> 
> Purple - Highest energy output. X4 destruction power of blue. Will heavily damage or destroy unshielded craft and structures. Can punch holes into ships without shields. Will kill instantly. Favored by the Xox. They don’t disable. They destroy.
> 
> Yune and Selke will never kill unless they have absolutely no choice, and no other options.


	19. Of Heart and Courage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tension continues. Will and Terra fight to save their ship, and their aunt and uncle from space pirates the only way they know how.

###  **Chapter 19**

 

Terra hopped out of the access tunnel softly and ducked behind a work desk. She peeked around it to see as much of the main treatment area as she could. Finding no sign that any of the space pirates were skulking around, she motioned for Will to follow. He kept watch at the door.

She opened a small case tucked away on a bottom shelf and put a few bandages, painkillers, another disinfectant spray, and a fresh coagulant wrap inside. By the way she’d witnessed her uncle holding his side, the wound looked bigger than her tiny hand, and much worse than anything first aid could treat. 

“I hear footsteps. Someone’s coming,” he urged in a hushed voice. 

Terra climbed back into the access port with the medical supplies in hand.

The footsteps closed in on them. He dashed to the exit and was about to close the hatch when he noticed a small serum application cylinder like the one used by the scientists to drug them at the lab. The one with capathacin contained a needle. This one looked like a spray. He grabbed it and ducked into the tunnel, closing the hatch just as the door slid opened. They stayed silent and waited, afraid to make any noise. 

The tall Mik moved casually through the room. He tapped at the console by the bed, but it beeped in rejection to any command attempts. Irritated, he touched the com node. “Beryn here. Med bay is clear. There’s no sign of ‘em.”

[Did you check the access tunnel?] Marci’s voice demanded. [There’s a hatch behind the desk in the lab.]

“What does it matter? They’re no threat. Knowing you, we’re getting the ship scrubbed as soon as possible. The macryon sweep will get them if they don’t come out of hiding anyway.”

[Don’t argue with me. Just do it, or I’ll withhold a portion of your cut.]

“I’ll take a look,” he rolled his eyes and ended the conversation. He moved around the wall divider into the lab. “I have better things to do than play hide and seek with toddlers.” 

The hatch hit waist high to an average Mikran male, who stood at around six feet. He turned the handle, unlocking the hatch, and slid it into the wall, then removed his pulse pistol and set it to bind. Beryn stuck his head and gun arm into the tunnel, looked left, then right...

...and yelped as Will sprayed the cylinder’s contents onto his face. 

For a strong moment, Will was afraid he’d just used highly volatile face melting acid the likes of which haven’t been seen since Indiana Jones fought the Nazi’s. 

Beryn stumbled backwards, grabbing at his skin and sweeping the desk items onto the floor, trying to wipe the compound away. Garbled words tumbled out of his mouth as his tongue lolled past his lips. 

Will hopped out, formed a sphere in his palm, and launched it at the Mik’s chest just as Terra sent a sphere to the gun in his hand. Both bio-energy orbs hit their marks and the weapon clattered away. A second strike from Will sent him to the floor. 

He immediately clutched his arm against his chest to keep from making the same mistake twice as the power flickered around his fingers.  _ Don’t _ , he reminded himself. 

“What did you grab?” Terra took the cylinder from him and read the tiny print in Masakan along the side. 

“What is it?” He looked horrified. “Is it acid?”

She began to giggle. “It’s Nyaprine. It’s the same numbing stuff in the disinfectant spray. You numbed his face.” She stuffed it in her pocket.

Will looked down at the twitching man, blubbering around a non-cooperative tongue. He heaved a sigh of relief that it wasn’t what he’d feared. He’d already had one major scare today. He didn’t need to be responsible for melting someone’s face off, too. He tapped Beryn’s boot with the toe of his shoe. “It’s a dumb face,” he murmured. 

Terra picked up the weapon to make sure he wouldn’t have it when he woke up, and tucked it into her thigh holster. “Why would you think it’s acid?” 

“I don’t know. It happens in video games all the time.” He reached down carefully, removed the com node from Beryn’s ear, and threw it down the garbage chute. She may not have wanted him to have the gun, but he didn’t want him calling for backup. Will also didn’t keep it just in case that woman on the other end tried to reach the pirate again. They didn’t need it going off while they were trying to be stealthy. 

“This is real life. You don’t keep acid sitting out like that, dummy.”

“How should I know? This might be our home, but it’s still an alien ship.” He quickly ran to the medical bay door, placed his hand over the control panel, and sent a small pulse of energy through it. It fried the lock, jamming it at least for a while. Lock fusion was old trick they used to employ to keep the Regents out of their rooms back at Strafsend. “I avoid this place like the plague. It creeps me out.” The bed, in particular, gave him anxiety from being poked and prodded at Strafsend. The inclusion processes weren’t the only reason he would be strapped to a table.

“If you had the plague, you’d have to come in here anyway.” Yet, she couldn’t blame him for his reaction. Sometimes when she was in here reading, she would feel the same chill needle up her spine along with an urge to run. Studying first aid inside the medical bay was her way of confronting her demons. 

Will glanced back to Beryn, fighting to regain control of his body. “He said the scrubber will get us. There’s only one place we could be going for that…”

He and his energy twin spoke in perfect synchronicity. “A Tehrellian starpost.” 

That meant they were now on a time limit. These pirates feared nothing, and wouldn’t bat an eye about sending them to their deaths via flesh disintegrating particles. Unfortunately, neither of them knew how far away the Horizon was from the nearest starpost - Tehrellian, Masakan Federation, or otherwise. They could be staring down a clock of minutes, or days.

Terra headed back into the access tunnel. “All the dangerous stuff is locked up.” Why do you think she’d leave acid out?”

“I don’t know,” he followed her, defending his odd train of logic. “I didn’t think about what was in it until I used it, ok? It could have been anything.” 

She jokingly mocked him, “‘Look at me! I’m Will! What’s this random thing do? Lemme try it and find out!’ Oops, I turned my hair green!” 

“That only happened once, and Aunt Selke dyed it back.” 

“You looked like a fluffy broccoli top.”

He frowned at having his nature so perfectly laid out in the open. “Shut up,” he grumbled to her giggle as he sealed the hatch and left Urik alone with his embarrassment in the medical bay. 

****

Marci brushed her slim hand along the the flat top of the pilot’s seat, drawing her palm across the soft grey fabric like it was a treasured pet. The emergency lights cast her in a sinister glow, accented by the pale green, fluctuating tether engulfing the ship from the belly of the Kellose a few meters ahead. 

She slid into the seat and smiled as the cushion gave in with the perfect amount of support. The cold feel of the smooth helm controls needled up her fingers like old friends. Memories of her time flying this ship flooded back. 

Those were the days when they owned the stars. The Horizon’s crew had built up a reputation of being one of the most reckless in the galaxy foolish enough to take on the most dangerous and long-shot jobs. For them, the payoff was always worth the risk. 

She closed her eyes and let herself live within the sounds of battle playing through her mind, of Selke relaying status messages from the engine room, Zaf on ops, and even Yune in the copilot’s seat on weapons. It was a wonderful time to test life. 

Yet Yune’s skills as a pilot overshadowed her own. He was the reason they had won those bets against death, and she hated it. The moment she and Yune switched roles by way of a team majority vote was the moment she slowly started to loathe him. Though she had retained the title of ‘Captain,’ it became just that; a title. The other two gradually veered more toward his suggestions than hers. They followed him instead of her, and they entrusted him with their secrets instead of her. In her eyes, Yune’s golden-boy aura of top Regent flight skills and knowledge of the Federation’s workings blinded them. He was reckless, adventurous, and arrogant. He may have far exceeded her in piloting skills, but he was no leader.   
When Selke’s decision to disobey Marci’s orders and detonate the cargo blinded him, she had smiled. The others thought it was simply because he lived. In truth, she was happy he didn’t die, because he could never fly again. That golden-boy aura vanished. 

And then Selke had given him the gift of sight. Yune returned to his role as pilot for the brief time the team remained together, and Marci’s poisonous loathing deepend until thoughts of his destruction consumed her. Death would be too easy. She wanted him to suffer loss, pain, anguish, humiliation, and when it all reduced him to a diminished husk of a man-- 

Death. 

Stealing his heart after Selke abandoned the team and then crushing it was the perfect way to get back at him for stealing her authority. She’d known he was attracted to her for a long time, so she used the hole left in his heart from her absence to facilitate her strategy. 

Finally, after seven years traversing the galaxy in her ship, Yune Darrak was exactly where he should be; dying in a holding cell of his creation with a traitor. 

For the first time since the incident that took his sight, he was completely helpless to save himself. 

That thought brought a small insidious curl to her lips. What a poetic way to end.

She touched the black com node behind her right ear. “Beryn, have you found those kids yet?” She waited, but he didn’t reply. “Beryn.” Perturbed that he was ignoring her as his previous annoyed tone had implied, she tapped the unit again. “Jaret. Keeg. Tell me you’ve located those children.”

Jaret responded. [Not yet. I sent Keeg into the access tunnels to retrieve them. I haven’t heard from him since.]

“How long has it been?”

[Twenty minutes. He’s probably still chasing them down.]

She switched over again. “Keeg?” Again, no answer. “Keeg, respond.” She could understand Beryn taking an attitude with her, but Keeg always replied, even if he was indisposed. She wished he’d learn to let the com pings go unanswered when using the toilet, or involved in...other activities.

Both of them refusing to respond triggered her curiosity. Something wasn’t right. She made a call to her ship. “Pell to Kellose.”

[Tullik here,] the mercenary left in charge answered. 

“Scan the ship for any additional life signs beyond what we detected before boarding.”

Silence, and then, [Everything checks out. Readings are the same as before, adding your boarding party. The only variation is a weakened readout from one Mik.]

“I see. Has the computer been able to identify the origin markers of the other two humans yet?”

[Not yet. Nothing in our database matches the scan. It’s definitely something we’ve never encountered before. Liena finds it fascinating. She’s taken it on as a pet project. It’s keeping her busy. That’s all I care about. Is there a problem?]

“No. Everything’s fine. Send a message ahead to the starpost requesting a macryon scrub of the Horizon.”

[Worried about vermin?]

“Just a precaution. It’s been a long time. We don’t know where she’s been.”

[Yes, Captain.]

“Urik,” she contacted the other Mik in the heart of the ship, “What’s the status on those engines?”

A smooth, confident male voice replied. [The core isn’t damaged, but the drive systems will need a few hours of repairs. Two more of the cooling units failed. I need access to the computer to make adjustments to compensate.]

“Is the ship in danger?”

[Not yet, but it will be in about an hour. How long until we reach the starpost?]

“Thirty minutes. I’ll get you that code. Anything else?”

[Yeah. They were installing an electromagnetic quad cycler relay unit, but we interrupted the process.] The other’s grin over the com indicated he was proud of Beryn catching Selke off guard with a stun blast to her chest near the airlock. To their luck, she wasn’t armed. The Horizon hadn’t expected a confrontation in the middle of deep space.

“Why would they need that?” The only reason would be if Darrak needed to run far away and fast. “Where are you going? And why?” she mused out loud. She would bet her most prized possession of a star orb - a clear crystal sphere with a steadily pulsating light suspended within its center -  that it involved those children, and that Yune knew everything about them. If he thought they were important enough to spirit away, they must be worth a lot of money. Children of diplomats, perhaps.

[Captain?] 

“What’s the condition of the unit?”

[Perfect. There’s no indication it was ever used at all. I wouldn’t be surprised if the sticker was still on it.]

“Brand new? That must have cost him a small fortune. Disconnect the unit and prepare it for transport. Might as well get ourselves a free upgrade.”

[Aye, sir.]

An afterthought struck her. “Oh, and Urik? If you see Beryn or Keeg, tell them I’m not amused at being ignored. Their cut of the take is pinched.”

[Yessir.]

They had thirty minutes until they reached the starpost. The only minor variables left to control were two small, helpless children - probably huddled scared in a corner somewhere waiting to be rescued. 

She leaned back in the chair. It didn’t quite feel right, so she adjusted the height and distance controls to the console. After reaching the perfect setting for her body, she settled back, closed her eyes, and relaxed. 

 

****

“There he is,” Terra whispered.

Will peeked at the back of the broad, muscled O’alli through the tiny crack in the access hatch on deck three in the lounge. Its location in the wall close to the windows forced them to angle their eyes upward  He kept his voice soft. “Whoa. Man, he’s huge,” he balked at the living boulder blocking the way out into the hall. 

“O’alli are bigger than I remember.” The ones she had seen on the Morning Star weren’t this built.

“That’s what she said,” he snerked.

She elbowed him. “Everyone is bigger than we are. Except Trax.” 

“Yeah. That was nice. Space needs more aliens like that.” Will remembered how good it felt to look down at someone for a change, even if it was just a crotchety old alien shopkeep.  

She gasped, “Look,” Her eyes landed on the pulse pistol strapped to the O’alli’s thigh. “He has Lucy. I gotta get her back.” Her precious gun was held hostage by a wall of blue beef. He held his original weapon in his hand, and looked ready to vaporize anything that moved. 

He blinked. “This is the guy that shot you?”

“Uh huh.”

He narrowed his eyes. Anyone that hurt her was going down. 

She bit her lip. At first, they thought they could get the drop on him with zephyr spheres like the other two, but after getting a good look at him, they were forced to come up with a new plan. “How are we supposed to knock him out?”

Will’s train of thought ran the same track. He could use an energy sphere, but the fear of overpowering it and succeeding in killing someone made him afraid to use it again. He hadn’t wanted to use it on that Mik in the med bay, but he had no choice. If Doctor Barakan’s intention was to turn he and Terra into killers, Will instantly needed to rebel against that plan, even if that plan was Will’s own speculation and not fact. He refused to make any part of that villain’s work a reality.

Not using his skill would make retaking the ship even harder than it already was. 

Terra spotted a collection of metal connectors and joints built up to form an unfinished, haphazard geodesic design on the table in front of the window. “The Connectids. I have an idea.” Slowly, she slid the hatch open just enough for her to slip out, then hurried quietly to duck behind the couch.

The O’alli remained facing the hallway with his back to the windows.

She gathered up as many as she could fit into her pink tunic and hurried back. Will helped her up and closed the door. 

Jaret glanced back curiously, but saw nothing, shrugged and went back to watching the hall.

They both stuffed the small metal parts into their pockets. “Good thinking.” It was a good thing they never listened to Yune and Selke and kept all of their toys in their rooms. “Hey,” He glanced to the weapon at Terra’s thigh. “I got it. You can hit him with a bind shot.”

“What?” she squeaked softly. “I-I can’t.”

“Why not? You shoot targets all the time.”

“People are people. I-I can’t shoot a person.” She couldn’t shake how traumatized Will had felt when he thought he was responsible for someone’s death. She didn’t want to experience that for herself. Will’s bleed-through to her was more than enough.

“You can do it. Just think of his butt as a big blue target.”

She removed the weapon from her holster and checked the setting. It was set to stun. Terra locked her jaw and her courage. She inhaled deeply. “Big blue butt, big blue target.” She worked to get a comfortable hold on the weapon. “I want  _ my  _ gun. This one feels weird.”

“You’re weird,” he sent the jibe in a friendly manner to help calm her. Small quips and insults were part of their relationship, the same as with Selke and Yune. “Can you get a good shot from here?”

“No, they might hear it. We still have to get the others, and he looks like he wouldn’t stay down long. He’d come after us.” The stairs to deck two were close enough that the sound could travel to the lower deck and the bridge if they left the door open. 

“So we have to make sure he stays down.” 

Which meant she would have to use the stun setting instead. 

They watched him pace toward the kitchen, then turn back. He started speaking to someone on the other end of his com. 

Will’s eyes lit up. “Stay here. I’ll let you know when to make your move. Watch for my signal, and then when his back is turned, you get him”

She nodded as he crawled away. 

He stopped long enough to toss back a, “Don’t miss.”

“I never miss,” she tossed it right back. “Will?”

He paused.

“Be careful.”

“It’s me. I’ll be fine.”

“I know. That’s why I’m warning you.”

Will moved as quietly as he could back up to the ceiling level and across the lounge. For once, he was thankful for his small size. It made sneaking around much easier than it would be for a loud, heavy adult.  

Moments later, he slid open the wall hatch and dropped into the kitchen. The O’alli was out of sight of the entrance to the small galley area. They rarely shut this door, so all the mercenary had to do was walk a few feet down the hall and look to his left. 

_ Where is it _ ? He searched under the table and in every crevice he could reach. 

The curve of something round, small, and yellow poked out from under a blown-out bulkhead panel from the impact. 

Yes! It was still here. 

He lifted the panel not much taller than himself as carefully as he could, and rolled the yellow ball out with his foot. He set the panel back down with the delicacy of someone stacking glass figurines, then set the ball in the middle of the room. He had been playing with it earlier that day, kicking it up and down the corridor and around the lounge. 

When Yune called him down for his flight lesson, he’d abandoned it in the kitchen. Yune didn’t know why he’d wanted this ball from the first Tehrellian starpost they were allowed to venture out on almost two years ago, but Will loved it just the same. There wasn’t anything technical or alien about it. It was just a simple ball. Of course, they had other toys to keep them entertained and occupied, but this was his favorite. Selke had speculated that maybe it was because Will wanted something to be normal in his life again that he could control. Between himself and Terra, this ball had seen every inch of this ship outside the access tunnels. It was the most used toy on the ship by everyone. Even Yune had given in to kicking it around, or tossing it for fun without the accompanying phrase, ‘get this damned thing outta my way.’ 

And now it would aid in his plan to save his family.

Part two of said plan formulated immediately. It contained two parts, but now he added another that might save him just in case anything went wrong. He hefted the panel up on its edge and leaned it at an angle against the side of the counter. It was heavy, but more cumbersome than dense. 

Next, he removed his jacket and stuck it into the access tunnel, then closed the hatch so the corner of it stuck out. Hopefully, it would appear as though he had abandoned it to run away in a hurry. 

Now to get the big lug’s attention. 

Will picked up the ball, exhaled to push past the ever-present fear gnawing at him, and psyched himself up. He was willingly taking an already dangerous situation and making it worse by luring a violent space pirate into close quarters. If today didn’t count as a life-threatening adventure, he didn’t know what would. 

“Kade winds up for the kick, lines up the goal, and....” Will kicked the ball out into the hallway.

Jaret eyed the rogue toy curiously as it bounced off the wall at an angle, then rolled and bumped into his boots. 

He picked it up, looked it over, and locked his gaze on its origin.

Will slid into the hallway. “Hey, you big blue turd.”

Jaret dropped the ball and barrelled after him.

Now that he had Jaret’s undivided attention, Will threw the Connectid parts from his pocket across the floor. 

They skittered and bounced along the metal plates, throwing off Jaret’s balance. He stepped on a cog, slipped, and slammed onto his back. 

Will dashed into the kitchen.

Jaret got to his feet, snarling like an agitated bull. That kitchen had no exit. If the boy lived on this ship, he would be aware of that, and of the fact that any attempt to leave would put him directly into the path of his pulse pistol. Since he was certain both of those tiny menaces were hiding in the tunnels, escaping through the hatch was the human’s logical choice for escape. 

He would cut him off before he had the chance. 

The emergency lights made visibility difficult, but Will used that to his advantage. He crouched, hidden behind the bulkhead panel, and peeked through the slim space between it and the counter as the alien mercenary crossed the threshold. The O’alli’s prowling booted footfalls filled the quiet room. 

He held his breath and tried to become one with the shadows. It was now or never.  _ Come on, Terra… _ Hopefully, she would pick up on that strong sense of urgency. He needed her to coordinate a tag-team attack just like they always used on their uncle. 

Jaret spotted the jacket edge sticking out from the access hatch and opened it to remove the article of clothing. He clutched it in one thick fist, and wasted no time sending four red bolts at different levels down the tunnel. No one, not even a child, could avoid those stun shots. 

If he and Terra had decided to lie in wait like they had in the medical bay, those shots would have finished them. Their unconscious, or bound bodies would be dragged out, and their entire rescue operation:Takedown, would be scrapped.

Will placed his right hand against the backside of the bulkhead, prayed Terra had picked up her cue, and focused. Blue light outlined his hand. In one move, he slammed his palm against it. A pulse of light burst from the impact point. The shock wave pulled out of him and shot the metal across the room directly at the alien. Will hadn’t used nearly as much strength as he had at Strafsend. 

He heard a loud ‘clang!,’ but didn’t stick around to see the impact. Will ran for the doorway. “Now!”

A single red plasma bolt zipped past his shoulder straight for the O’alli’s back. 

Jaret spun, deflecting the panel to the side with this arm. The bolt hit the metal instead in a burst of red sparks. 

Her confidence shattered. She’d missed. How could she miss? His big blue butt-target was right there. She’d hit much smaller areas than that dozens of times. 

Angered that two tiny brats tried to get the drop on him, Jaret raised his weapon and fired. 

Terra and Will doged to either side. The blast sliced by the edge of her hair, missing her neck by an inch, and impacted the wall. The rush sent her to the floor.

Her green eyes widened in fear. On her right side, without hesitating, Terra took aim and pulled the trigger twice. Both stun bolts struck the O’alli in the chest. His face froze in shock, his eyes rolled upward, and his body fell over with a thud. 

“Yes!” Will cheered. “Haha! Take that!”

Terra didn’t join him. Her arm paralyzed in place and began to tremble. She couldn't blink. The pirate lying face down on the floor of the kitchen filled her vision. Everything else blurred out.

“Terra?” Will scrambled over to her and pulled her up to a sitting position, cupping her shoulders. “Are you ok?” 

That blur began to clear as Will put himself between her and the loser of their battle. She didn’t cry, or speak, but thin trails of energy drew out of his hands into her. 

He felt that energy pull to calm herself down, and he let her take it. He could read the adrenaline settling down within her from her first real firefight. “Hey. You got him. You did it.” 

She bit her lip. “I missed.”

He shrugged. “But you still got him. I guess now you have a new record to break.” The energy pull from him stopped. He eased the gun from her fingers. “He’s not gonna hurt us anymore.” Will stood and offered her his hand.

She looked up at him, at the warmth and familiarity of her other half, and accepted the help to her feet. “Right.”

They hurried back into the kitchen, removed the com node, and tossed it and both pulse pistols down the garbage shoot. 

Terra tucked her gun in its holster. The weight of it had become somewhat comforting. Now that she had a way to defend herself that didn’t involve the use of her powers, she felt a little better. She shared her twin’s sentiment on refraining from using a zephyr sphere on anyone. 

He tapped his foot against the large alien’s boot, then retrieved his jacket from Jaret’s hand. “Nice shot. He’s gonna be napping for a while.”

She turned to Will, who put his jacket back on. “Three left,” She looked down at her victim and stepped away, wrapping her arms around herself. “I want Aunt Selke and Uncle Yune,” she squeaked. 

“Yeah, me, too,” he said softly. He wanted to hug them and feel safe in their arms again, but… “We have to stay strong a little longer. They’re counting on us.”

Footsteps pinged against the u-stairs coming up from deck two. Their hearts lurched at the cold, female voice that preceded it. 

“Jaret. What the hell is going on up here?”

Despite how careful they were, the firefight still echoed down to Marci on the bridge, confirming Will’s idea that the door had been left open - or forced open. 

He fried the lock on the galley door to seal it shut, urged Terra quickly into the kitchen’s access hatch, and disappeared with her into the veins of their ship. 

“Jaret,” Marci demanded, but the muscled O’alli was gone. If he decided to take a nap, she would carve a mark of shame into the back of his neck and force him to walk naked for a day in front of the Night Wraiths - the ultimate humiliation for an O’alli. To be fully exposed meant to be vulnerable to attack from every angle, emotional, mental, and physical. 

Marci reached the galley and tapped on the door control imbedded in the wall. It’s dissonant beep marked it as malfunctioning. She was about to leave it to check the four cabins when the yellow ball reflected enough crimson light to catch her attention. She crouched like a hunter examining the tracks of an animal, and picked it up. 

No...this was impossible.

They were children. 

There was no they could take down a full grown O’alli, especially an immovable absolute unit like Jaret. Let alone two others of her team as well. Trained, ruthless men with blood on their hands couldn’t be defeated by ordinary children. 

Marci blasted the controls with a blue bolt straight into the systems. She pushed the door open, saw the damage inside, and sighed. 

Jaret lay on the floor in front of the table with a discard piece of bulkhead close by. 

She checked for a pulse at his neck. He was still alive, though heavily stunned. Two blast burns marred his chest close together. Whoever shot him had skill. Like it or not, she couldn’t ignore the possibility that Keeg and Beryn had met the same fate. 

Now, she was irritated. “Pell to Reeg and Urik. Those children are more of a problem than we’d thought. Keep your guard up.” 

[Captain?] Urik responded. [They’re only children. They’re no threat.]

“Jaret, Keeg, and Beryn probably thought the same thing.” She scanned the floor for Jaret’s weapon and com node, but found nothing. Those two were smart enough to discard communications and defense items. “Someone is trying to play ‘hero.’”

[Should we shoot to kill?] Reeg asked as if simply requesting orders. 

“Not yet. There’s something different about these kids, and I want to know what it is. However, we can’t afford to underestimate them anymore. Reeg, do not leave the holding cell until I say so. Urik, stay in the engine room,” she gave a devious smile. “I think I know how we can lure our oobo out of the maze.”

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #19: This occurrence would happen on a regular basis over the course of 2 years - ages 8-10 galactic years old - until Yune finally caved in to giving Will piloting lessons on his second 10th birthday. 
> 
> Will: "Can I fly the ship?"  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Can I fly the ship?"  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Can I fly it now?"  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "How about now?  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Now?"  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "...Please can I fly the ship?"  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Come on, please? I’m saying please."  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Please?”  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Please?”  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: "Please?”  
> Yune: *deadpan* no.  
> Will: “Plea--”  
> Yune: "If you ask me one more time, I'm throwing you out the airlock."  
> Will: *Thinking he might have a chance if he says it faster,* "....................CanIflytheship?"  
> Yune growls and stands up out of the pilot's seat.  
> Will takes off out the door like a shot. "Aaah!!!"
> 
> Will would use the excuse, "You can't turn this ship around, 'cause there's nowhere to go back to."  
> Wherein Yune would have to bit his tongue and just angrily grumble at being put into that trap. There is nothing he can say here.


	20. Wounded

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The terrifying situation escalates on the commandeered Horizon, exploding in an outcome that surprises everyone.

###  **Chapter 20**

 

They reached the heart of the ship.

Will and Terra peered down the ladder at the top of the T intersection leading down to the access hatch to the engine room.

At the bottom of the darkened rungs, the tunnel split into small anti chambers that Yune used as smuggling compartments; perfect places to play Hide and Seek.

Soft red light bled inside. Someone had opened the hatch and purposefully neglected to close it.

“I guess that answers our question about someone being here,” Terra frowned, “and knowing we’re here.”

Will buzzed air past his lips and sat on his knees. If they climbed down as had been their original idea, the mercenary here would see them. They couldn’t bank on a sneak attack, or on using their toys like before. This situation called for an entirely new on-the-fly plan.

“What are we supposed to do now?” she slumped back against the wall.

He stared at the zephyr orb resting comfortably on the back of his hand in thought. The curls of energy looped around like a highly complex atom, or a lit ball of constantly moving yarn. It sucked him into its center. His irises contracted, and for a moment, his world became the center of that orb. Sure, it was comprised of his own bio-electrical energy, but the longer he stared, the more his thoughts untangled into a smooth line.

“Will?”

His energy reacted to her voice, vibrating the power within the sphere like a sound wave only they could hear. It changed so subtly, he barely caught it, then realized he’d witnessed it before in the lab’s sensory deprivation chamber. It lit up.

An idea sparked in his mind as though the sphere itself had ignited it. “We turn on the lights.”

“But, we’re on emergency power. We can’t.”

He faced her and explained his idea. “We _are_ lights. Remember when you started using a tiny zephyr ball as a nightlight when the batteries in my flashlight died?”

“Yeah.” It was the only way he could sleep in the facility and on the Horizon. She had no problems sustaining something that small as protection against the night terrors. Whether he would admit it or not, he was still afraid of the dark. This entire nightmare being in close quarters on a derelict ship in the middle of space kept his anxiety just below manageable almost the entire time, despite his moments of bravado. He was terrified, but staying courageous for her.  

“If I can create a super bright flash, it’ll blind whoever’s in the room. Then you shoot them when they’re staggering around like an idiot.”

Binding someone, she could do. Her gun was locked out of anything else. “Then we tie them up and lock them in. I saw some cabling in the supplies we brought on board from Zeebi. Aunt Selke brought it up here. We can use that.”

“Cool. Now we gotta confuse ‘em.” He held up the sphere with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Wanna play Keep-Away?”

“What?” We can’t. It’s too dangerous.”

“It’s only dangerous if we hit the core. Who’s gonna tell on us? The ship?”

Terra’s eyes flicked upward, then from side to side. Maybe the Horizon paid constant attention to everything they did, which put its present state into something similar to a serious injury since emergency power remained online. It surprised her at how sad she felt over that thought. It was a ship, not a living thing. And yet it was their home, kept them alive, and protected them from harmful elements as it carried them through space.

“Look. We have to rescue Uncle Yune and Aunt Selke, and if we have to break some rules to do it, then we do it. It’s not like these guys are playing by the rules, anyway, so why should we?”

“We’re gonna get in so much trouble for this,” she gripped the handle of her pulse pistol.

“Like that ever stopped you before,” he clearly remembered her going after Yune’s cookie stash in the kitchen and getting for it. She had a sweet tooth. “Better to ask forgiveness than permission,”he smirked.

Terra noticed a while ago that he began picking up minor incremental personality quirks and phrases from Yune, and this particular one had their uncle written all over it. “I guess since we’re saving the ship, we get a free pass.”

“Exactly. Ready?”

“Ready.”

“Go.”

The two climbed down the ladder swiftly, dropping the last four rungs, and bolted into the engine room in opposing directions.

Urik lay in wait beside the standing console facing the hatch. He fired as soon as the kids dashed into view. The bolt skimmed the back of Will’s jacket.

“Over here, buttnugget!” Will yelled. He threw the sphere across the room.

As predicted, its simple existence caught Urik off guard.

Terra caught it in her left hand. “No! Over here!” she called out and sent it back.

Urik fired toward Will, spun and returned a shot at Terra, but had to dodge around the core and duck the strange energy phenomenon whizzing past his scruffy dark hair. The core’s clear irradesteel barrier to the inner chamber was open, so he had to be careful none of his shots entered the chamber, or their entire trip would end in an spectacular explosion taking the Kellose with it.

“Nya nya nyanya nya! You can’t catch me!” Will waggled both hands tauntingly against his temples and stuck out his tongue. He caught the sphere and hurled it back, buzzing past the core’s chamber wall

Terra caught it and ran around to the other side as Will mirrored her . “Hey, did you hear the one about your sister?” She threw the sphere back.

“She was as real butterface. Everything about her was cute--” he tossed it back.

“But her face!” both kids jumped off the punchline.

Their motions were too fast and synchronized for Urik to land a shot. Their constant annoying ridicule and immature jokes made him grind his teeth as his anger boiled over. “No one insults my sister!”

“Guess we’re No One.” The whole time, Will thought of a brilliant light bulb. He felt the image strengthen, growing brighter as he fed more and more power into the thought. It took everything he had to keep playing ‘keep-away’ and not form the light yet.

“Stop moving around!” Urik exploded. He set his gun to stun and fired at Will again. The bolt struck the bulkhead.

“Your mother drinks toilet water!” Terra shot the energy sphere at his feet. It burst upward in a quick pulse of light. Without the two feeding it power, it dispersed.

Will took the cue. “Hey! Dumpster head! Smile!” At his thought, the rest of the power surged forward from a massive push just as Urik spun to aim his weapon again. He thought it would form a sphere.

He was wrong.

A brilliant pulse of white light laced with blue energy burst out of his entire body. Will dropped to his hands and knees.

Urik cried out in pain from the sudden glare as though a solar flare had erupted in front of his face.

She set her sharp vision on her target and fired. The bolt struck him in the chest. The tall Mik snarled behind his scruff of facial hair as the bind knocked him to the floor.

“Ow, my head.” That surge aggravated his head wound, and he felt tired once more. He didn’t know how much it would take to accomplish his goal, so he’d guessed, but the estimate was too high. Neither of them had full control over their powers yet. They didn’t practice much, as it was dangerous to really let go on the ship.

Terra helped him to his feet. The two smiled at each other in their victory and gave a high five.

“Toilet water. Haha! Nice.”

“I’m proud of that one,” she holstered her gun and ran to retrieve the medical supplies from the access tunnel. “I can’t believe it was that easy. He’s a worse shot than you.”

“Yeah…Hey!,” Will frowned. Still, he couldn’t deny the truth: It was too easy, and that didn’t sit right with him. “Four down, two to go. Come on. We’ll get the one on the bridge, then get the guard.”

They ran to the storage locker and pulled out the cable they’d need, then tied up Urik’s hands and feet.

“You...haven’t...won,..” he forced out.

“Lemme see… You’re tied up, and we’re not. We won,” Will then mumbled softly, “Sphincter says what.”

“What?” Urik snarled through the bind.

“Loser” Both kids put the L of their fingers against their own foreheads. Will took a spare length of cable and tied the bindings from Urik’s hands and feet together behind his back.

Their objective complete, Terra dropped Urik’s weapon and com node down the garbage shoot, and both left the engine room. She fried the lock to seal the door shut. However, when Will headed for the stairs, she placed her hand on the darkened panel and whispered a soft plea to the Horizon - just in case, “Please don’t tell on us.”

Will motioned for her to stay at the base of the stairs leading up to deck two in the center of the ship. She ducked behind the steps.

He tiptoed quietly up to the next deck, edged against the wall until he reached the opened door of the bridge, and peaked inside.

Marci swiveled idly in the chair with her foot up on the console.

He cringed. Yune would kill him for sitting in his chair, let alone lounging with his shoes up in complete disrespect. He could only imagine what his uncle would do to this leggy pirate reclining like a queen who’d just demanded the beheading of her mortal enemy.

Stealing his moment, he moved to the middle of the walkway and gave a two note high-low whistle to get her attention.

Marci turned in curiosity, then frowned at the small kid.

He waved and dashed back down to deck one like a mouse spotted by a hungry cat.

“Why you little--” she shot out of the chair after him. “Pell to Reeg. Now.”

Terra called her power to her hands and took up a place at the right of the stairs as Will jumped down to the left and did the same. A web of blue current crackled between their hands.

Marci halted a step up from the bio-electrical clothesline. For a second, her plan fizzled. She hadn’t expected this. These children were worth so much more than a ransom from a dignitary.

The two moved to plant both hands against the metal to send their combined energy crawling up metal stairs.

Something hot sliced across Terra’s back just as her fingers brushed the surface. The pain made her inhale sharply. Her power ceased, and thus, the link between them broke.

She fell to the floor, unconscious.

“Terra!” Will had enough time before a bind blast struck him in the chest. He hit the floor hard, grimacing at the impact through his side. It spread to his head wound and sent shooting pain through his forehead. He couldn’t speak, close his eyes, or move a muscle. This was the second time in an hour he’d been hit with a bind. A memory of the firefight that ensued to get the fifty kids away from the holding facility on Masaka reminded him that a second bind shot so soon after the initial wouldn’t last as long. However, it didn’t erase the terror of being shot, of suddenly becoming completely helpless, or of watching his other half get hit by a sun bolt.

Marci and Reeg lowered their weapons.

Will had no choice but to watch as she stepped over Terra’s body and knelt down in front of him. She gripped his chin harshly, staring into his eyes. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re lucky you’re useful to me. Not so heroic now, are you?”

He couldn’t respond, but he could focus past her to Terra.

She glanced behind her a moment. “You and your sister are going to make me a lot of money,” she held the Xox tech out in his direct line of sight. “You’ll tell me how you activated this. I promise I won’t hurt her or you if you cooperate. Think it over.”

She stood, stepped over him, and moved down the slim hall alongside the cargo bay to the engine room. The controls refused to respond.

“They jammed it.” With the rest of her team taken out by toddlers, it was up to her and Reeg to secure these two until they reached the starpost. She walked back to the central hub.  “Bring him.” She holstered her weapon and scooped up the girl.

She noted the discarded case of medical supplies, but left them to serve no one.

Reeg lifted Will into his arms and followed his captain.

Will’s heart raced. Small squeaks of air were all that escaped from his paralyzed vocal chords. The Altair energy swirled, surged, and shrank back within him. Like his soul, it was trapped inside the frame of his body. He could feel it fighting the same way he struggled against the bind. The fact that Terra was hit with a stun shot and not a bind scared him the most. _Terra_ , he begged, _Wake up._

Terra’s small legs dangling lifelessly over the pirate’s arms.

As Marci and Reeg approached the holding cell, Selke and Yune’s eyes betrayed their mortification. Their hope that the two small children were safe, shattered.  

Selke had helped Yune to the cot by this point. She stood and approached the force field, noticing the blood caked in Will’s hair beyond the patch, and the bandaged cut on Terra’s arm. “What have you done to them?”

“Stopped them from continuing to be a thorn in my side,” Marci set Terra on the floor outside the cell.

Reeg held onto Will, even as the boy’s hands began to twitch from the fading bind.  
“These two took down four of my men. There’s no way in hell normal children are capable of that.”

Yune looked over at her, grinning. When they got out of this, he would buy those kids whatever they wanted.  
Marci pushed harder. “They created an electrical field. These are not ordinary human brats. So you’re going to tell me what the hell they are and why you have them.”

“They’re annoying you. Tthat’s all that matters,” Yune coughed.

Marci held her pulse pistol to Terra’s head. “If you want them live, you’ll give me that access code.”

Selke tried to appeal to whatever passed for a heart the bounty hunter had left, “Whatever happened before is between us. Some part of our history must have meant something to you.”

“You were only ever a means to an end,” she answered sharply.

Selke’s voice softened. “We were a family--”

“We were never a family,” she hissed. “You were the engineer under my command. Our friendship was simply a way to stay civil. And Yune was a way to destress. I’m sorry, but our memories of life on board this ship vary greatly.”

“There were moments when you cried to me, and the day we all stole the Horizon together, you said you were happy to finally belong somewhere.”

“I wanted off that clusterfuck of a planet, that’s all.” She changed the level from bind past stun, to a more deadly setting. “Give me the code, or she dies.”

“She’s a child, Marci. Don’t do this.”

Control began to return to Will in tiny increments. _Terra, please wake up!_ He shouted as loudly in his mind as he could, _WAKE UP!_

Terra’s eyes flashed open. She breathed hard from the stun effects, and from regaining consciousness to the barrel of a pulse pistol pressed between her eyes.

“Hm?” One delicately arched eyebrow raised. “How are you awake? You should have been unconscious for another minute.”

Terra turned her pleading eyes toward the holding cell, filled with regret that they’d failed. “Uncle Yune...Aunt Selke...”

“Aunt and uncle?” Marci scrunched up her nose. “Ew.”

“The bind is wearing off on the boy,” Reeg tightened his grip as Will’s struggling gradually increased.

The red-head growled. “What is with these kids?”

“Marci, please… don’t hurt her,” Selke begged.

“The code. Now.”

Both stayed quiet.

The energy within Will finally began to manifest at the tips of his fingers. These aliens hurt Terra, imprisoned his family, and wrecked their home. They would pay for what they’ve done.

He saw Yune shake his head negatively at him. Will recalled his power, though he was one heartbeat away from sending everything he had at Marci’s head.

“You have three seconds to tell me what I need to know. Three...two...one--”

“Ok!” Yune sat up, covering his middle. “Ok. You win. I’ll give you the damned code.”

A serpent’s smile creeped across her face. “I knew you’d come around.”

Yune fought through the pain. “I’ll need to...enter it myself. It’s keyed to my fingerprints.”

“A bio lock?” she cursed. “It’s a trick. I don’t trust you.”

“People like you are why I had to implement that security protocol in the first place,” he stumbled to the edge of the field. “Let them both go, and I’ll go with you willingly. I’ll answer all your questions.”

“Yune,” Selke hushed. “Don’t.”

“She’s not giving me a choice,” he brushed his fingers down her face. “Their lives are more important.”

Marci huffed at the lovey-dovey display. Her purple eyes shifted to the boy as Reeg set him down and gripped Will’s neck. “All right. I accept your offer. You’ll die before we reach the starpost anyway.” She pulled Terra to her feet with one arm. “For your cooperation, I’ll let her live.”

Reeg lowered the force field, and Marci threw her inside.

Selke rushed to help her up, immediately checking her for injuries.

“I said both,” Yune argued.

“He stays with me. Call it a contingency plan to make sure you hold up your end of the bargain. Since both of them have no known origin markers, I assume they can both activate Xox technology. Which means, I only need one. Try anything, and I’ll have Reeg snap his neck.” She stepped aside and gestured forward with her weapon. “Lead the way,... Captain,” she mocked.

Yune shuffled forward across the threshold. The field activated once more behind him. He could barely walk from the pain in his leg and side, but he managed to stay upright. He braced himself against the bulkhead and slowly meandered toward the spacious open area before the cargo bay door.

Terra’s chest heaved. She broke away from Selke and slammed her right hand against the force field. It sent needles of pain up her arm.

“Terra,” Selke pulled her back by the shoulders. “Stop. You’ll hurt yourself.”

“They’re gonna hurt him,” she cried. “What do I do? I’m scared.”

Selke rested her hand against the small girl’s face to dry her tears. “Remember what we talked about earlier; about your connection to Will.”

She nodded.

“Use it.”

Terra sniffled and wiped her arm across her nose as she saw them reach the hub. How could she consciously use it? What could she do from in here? Yes, they were connected, but most of their responses to one another were felt and instinctual.

The particle barrier’s control panel caught in her peripheral and gave her an idea. All she needed was for her other half to understand what she wanted him to do. She held her hand out toward the panel. “Will, look at me,” she mumbled in a barely audible whisper, ‘Look at me…”

Yune stopped at a terminal sticking out from the wall by the storage lockers. Normally, it was used for the shuttle, and for checking the inventory in the cargo bay.

Will’s throat pinched under the pressure of the Tagron’s tight grip. He tried not to move to keep the pain to a minimum, but it was difficult, since the alien had him up on his tiptoes. Just as he was about to send a shock through the alien to gain freedom, Terra’s energy within him warmed. He knew this sense. It pulled him toward her, like a magnet. It was always subtle, but now instead of a faint prod for recognition, it was screaming for his attention.

He managed to turn his head enough to see Terra and Selke at the far end of the hall. Much like the galley door, they rarely had a reason to close the bulkhead sealing off that area.

Will watched Terra hold out her right hand toward the wall panel controlling the field. She wanted him to do something. But what? There was no way she could extend her energy beyond the barrier or the walls. It was completely self contained. They’d already tried that a long time ago. Plus, unlike the doors on the rest of the ship, Yune modified it so this single control panel was heavily shielded to protect against any EM or bio-electric pulse - a.k.a, them.

However, Marci and Reeg didn’t know that. They might know the panel’s original defenses, but they wouldn’t know the attack would come directly from him, and that would catch them off guard.

His eyes flicked to Yune, who had slumped from the pain of his wounds.

“Get up,” Marci shoved the nose of the pulse pistol against the side of his head.

Yune forced himself to stand. He lingered, fighting back the severe need to collapse, and used his own injuries to buy time.

Will swallowed against the grip around his neck and lifted his trembling right arm slightly, angling his wrist up so his hand pointed at the door. A small energy sphere formed at the tips of his index and middle fingers. With Marci and Reeg preoccupied with their near victory of gaining control of the ship’s systems, they didn’t bother to notice his minute action. He had to do this, and he had to trust Terra’s plan. If he didn’t, they all might die. But if he missed, it would all be over.

Will curled them inward, powered up the tiny sphere and flicked his fingers to let it fly.

It shot down the hall in spark of blue.

The distraction worked.

The two mercenaries turned just in time to see Terra move both hands quickly in hard concentration to angle the energy ball directly at the panel. It slammed into the surface, spreading tendrils of energy through the controls. She exhaled. Thank everything it worked. She didn’t know if it would. They’d never tried to control a sphere in mid air before.

“Nice try, kid ,” Marci sad in confidence. “That won’t work. But, it proves you’re a menace, so thank you for volunteering to be the one to die.”

Reeg tightened his hold, cutting off Will’s air, and lifted him off the ground. “Damned alien runt.”

Will gripped the man’s arms, gagging. Desperation clawed through all logical thought, replacing it with a primal need for freedom and air.

Something inside Yune snapped.

Time slowed, his wounds faded to a background ache, and a well of strength poured into his muscles. He grabbed Marci’s arm as she aimed to fire at the boy and knocked the gun skyward. A blue bolt hit the ceiling in a starburst of sparks that marred the surface.  

Yune thrust the ball of his right hand into Marci’s face, knocking her back. He wrenched the gun free of her grip, endured a kick to his middle despite the impact point, though didn’t release his hold, and threw her to the floor. In a heartbeat, he set the pulse pistol to bind, and fired.

She lurched from the shot, but remained motionless and awake.

Yune changed the setting to mid-range - blue -, aimed it at her forehead, but hesitated. No...he wouldn’t kill. Not here, and not like this. She didn’t deserve to be released of her crimes so easily. He breathed hard against the pain returning to his senses. The adrenaline rush had let him push his weakened body past its limits to protect Will, Selke, and Terra. He was sure it was the only thing keeping him on his feet now.

Will, however, held no reservations.

Angry tendrils of energy zapped to life over Reeg’s body, crawling across his skin and through his bones. The heat of the powerful attack spasmed his muscles just enough to release his captor as it lit up his nervous system.

Will dropped, landing on his side, but ignored the pain. His mind swirled within the trap of a vicious loop. _They have to pay. I will make them pay! Stop! Stop it!_ With a battle cry to match that of an young, enraged lion, Will lunged at the tall Tagron.

Reeg staggered, screaming as more and more energy surged in rabid waves from the boy through his body.

Will’s fingers dug into his face. Burn lines leached out from under his hand to cover and seal up Reeg’s left eye, destroying it.

The Tagron twitched and writhed, screaming in agony.

“Will, stop!” Yune ordered. “William!”

But Will didn’t hear him. Encapsulated within the release of revenge, at this moment, he didn’t care. Years of pent up aggression, frustration, and helplessness had found their target.

Yune’s eyes widened at a hair-fine flicker of purple energy within the boy’s assault. He had to stop Will before he made a permanent mistake - a mistake he was far too young to have to learn to live with.

He reached out to pull him away, but an errant discharge struck his hand. Pain lanced through his burned palm. He couldn’t touch him, but someone else could. He typed in the command lockout code quickly, and remotely lowered the cell’s force field. “Terra!”

She reached Will in seconds, and threw her arms around him from behind. “Will, stop! “ Her teeth ground together, and with all of her strength, she willed the force within her to pull every ounce of power she could out of him.

Altair energy coursed over her, absorbing into her body. It didn’t hurt - his power could never harm her -, but it was far stronger than what she was accustomed to receiving. “Stop… Will, please, stop. You’re not a monster,” she cried. “Don’t.”

 _Don’t_ …

His attack ceased. Her words pierced through the wall of avarice, breaking the loop.

He let go, exhausted, and hyperventilating.

Reeg’s body spasmed, severely burned in lines mimicking a lightning strike, but he was alive.

The adrenaline had masked the pain from his head wound, which now returned in full force. He felt cold, lightheaded, and weak. The anger washed through him again, but she had drained him of the strength to do anything about it.

She held on with her head resting against his back and her arms locked tightly around him. Her body felt hot from the massive amount of energy she’d taken, but it still wasn’t everything he had. It writhed from memetic anger, like it was alive, carrying his burdon. Hers calmed it down, but it was still more than she could contain. She needed to release the excess energy. This was stressful, but if it stopped him from becoming a murderer, she would absorb the sun if she had to.

She tried to support him and stand. “Aunt Selke,” her voice trembled. “Help…”

Selke ran to lift Will to his feet. She lead them to the holding cell, then stepped out. The force field reactivated just as both settled onto their knees.

In less than a breath, she let go of the Altair energy, and Will took it back.

Bio-electrical ribbons burst in pulses from her like a heartbeat, ricochetting around the room and returning back to its original source.

Her loss of control, and the exchange lasted merely a few seconds, but to Will and Terra, it froze time. Once it was over, she smiled. Yet through it, the terror at almost losing him crushed that smile and she held him tightly.

With the danger past, Selke lowered the field. She rested her hand on Will’s shoulder. “Are you two ok?”

“I’m sorry,” Will pleaded for forgiveness as he pulled away to look up at their aunt. “I’ll understand if you send me back.”

“It’s all right, Will,” she consoled. These kids had more dwelling in their minds to deal with than most. Although she and Yune did their best to give them a better life, show them they’re loved, help them heal, and teach them, there were clearly recesses of their psyches that never healed and remained scarred.

Terra looked up at her aunt as her Uncle limped slowly back. “There’s a guy locked in med bay, and one in the kitchen, and one in the engine room. And...”

“...one in the access tunnel near section B by the cube,” Will delivered the information in low regret.

“You took down four of the Night Wraiths,” Yune grimaced, slouching and supporting himself against the wall even as he gave the praise, “That’s no easy feat, but.don’t do that again.”

“Ok,” they agreed.

“But, you two did a hell of a good job.”

Terra and Will accepted the accolade. “Here.” Terra dug the nyaprine cylinder from her pocket and offered it up.

Selke took it. This tiny item would provide much needed relief for Yune. “Thank you. Take care of Will. I’ll clean up the mess.”

She sprayed the numbing agent over both of his wounds.

He relaxed in relief.

Now for the mess.

Her boots clanked in the stillness in a deliberate march up to Marci, fighting against the bind.

The younger woman forced her purple eyes to glare up at the towering figure of an extremely pissed off woman. She hissed words through gritted teeth. “How? Everything was perfect. Everything went as planned.”

Selke’s answer laced with cold venom. “It is possible to make no mistakes and still lose.”

Marci’s hissed inhale let Selke know she held no remorse in her actions.

The Felorian woman glared down at the paralyzed Masakan. “I should kill you for what you’ve done. You attacked my family, mamed my husband, and damned near killed my niece and nephew. By my people’s laws, I have the right to take your life.”

“Do it.” That one phrase harbored over a decade of hatred.

She made no move on her threat.

“Thought so,” Marci chuckled. “You never had the balls to make the hard choices.” It took all of her concentration to angle her head up so she could look her former teammate in the eye. “Just tell me what those kids are. Why are they here? Who the hell are they?”

Selke glanced to Yune leaning against the inside of the holding cell behind Will - who had let go of Terra to help him sit on the cot - then back to Marci. She knelt down to whisper too softly for anyone else to hear. “I will do what you’ve never done; tell the truth. Those children are of the One Thousand.”

Marci’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You’re lying. They don’t scan as Terran. Why would the Chancellor give them to you?”

Selke continued, ignoring her question, “You know the consequences of harming any of the One Thousand. If word should get out that you tried to kidnap and kill them, every ship from any civilized world who even heard of them will be after your ass for the bounty. And with these two? The Chancellor herself will rid the galaxy of your existence. Your head will make someone very, very rich,” Selke’s voice drew the cold from the air into icy barbs, “but if I ever see you again, I promise what pain and anguish they offer will be nothing compared to what I will do to you.”

The daggers of her threat speared through the mercenary. She heard no hint of hesitation or bluffing. The Felorian was willing, capable, and ready to end Marci’s life. Yet in the face of that promised future of torture, she uttered one more word in her former friend’s language that didn’t have a direct translation - to make sure her meaning in the insult struck with pure clarity, “Scun.”

Selke’s boot struck her head and knocked her out.

She scowled down at her with a curt, annoyed, “Shut up” at the insult that loosely translated to ‘whore.’

The emergency lights deepend the shadows on Yune’s face. “I wanted to do that.”

She carefully laid him back on the cot. “You can have a turn when she wakes up.”  

Yune smirked and closed his eyes. “Told ya we’ve been through worse,” he whispered.

“Stop trying to break your record,” she tried to stay positive, but the heartache in fear of losing him grew. She rested her hand against the side of his face. “We’re almost to the starpost. You’ll be fine.” Her expression shifted in worry when he didn’t respond. He’d pushed himself too hard to fight to save his family, and endured a kick from Marci, which made his wounds worse. It put him dangerously close to the edge. Yet she knew he would have made the same choices to protect them. “Yune…”

The starlines, dyed green from the tractor beam, streaked toward them from the small window above the cot. Her voice barely carried beyond the threshold of the cell. She held his hand in both of hers and dipped her head down to rest it against his fingers.  “Hold on.”

 

****

The Kellose towed the Horizon to the macryon scrubber arch connected to starpost Ekeron’s lower section. They waited for the ship ahead of them to move out. The station’s dual tractor beams took over, guided the ship through, and connected it to the airlock’s extended umbilical per standard procedure for the crew to disembark. The arch was wide enough to accommodate the largest Regent vessel, which left plenty of room for the Horizon.

After the normal wait for the crew to remove anything living and themselves, the umbilical retracted back into the station. The macryon particle emitters connected to either side of the arch activated and gradually worked its wide red beam over the ship’s hull from aft to bow. The macryon particles penetrated every surface, disintegrating all organic matter left behind. After one hour - the average time it would take to completely scrub a vessel the size of the Mikran light freighter - the beam ended.

Because it was so heavily damaged, the station had to employ a tug ship to tow it to the repair dock five levels up on the other side.

The Kellose was nowhere to be found by this point. It and its crew were long gone.

 

****

The steady cadence of a heart monitor met his ears first.

Yune cracked his eyes open, blinking to let the soft light clear up the sight of a very sterile white ceiling.

He felt groggy, and definitely hopped up on painkillers. They worked like a charm. He couldn’t feel his wounds anymore. He wiggled his toes, and felt relieved that he could still perform that action. A slim, clear tube extended out from the hock of his right elbow to a simple, small, sleek machine next to his bed. A grey patch stuck to his bare chest, sending a wireless transmission of all his vital signs to the same machine and the medical facility’s monitoring system.

He survived. Somehow, after fighting Marci and enduring a shot that should have been fatal, he lived.

Soft breathing caught his attention to his right.

Will slept with his head on his arms against the bed. Terra curled up in a seashell-pink armchair next to a floor-to-ceiling corner window with his jacket balled up as a pillow. Beyond the windows, the local Bubble nebula shone blue and aureate in the darkness, like someone injected it with liquid gold that clouded in the way ink does in water. Someone had draped a blanket over her with the print of a friendly, fuzzy cat-like animal. A few strands of long bangs fell across her small, innocent face.

Both of them had their wounds tended to. Will sported a small treatment patch at his hairline. Once its job was done, the injury would be sealed without a scar.

He owed these kids twice now within the past month. If things stayed on this course, he’d rack up a substantial debt to repay.

The door ahead of him slid open. He caught a glimpse of the sleek hallway beyond when the lightly-tanned skinned doctor entered. “Glad to see you’re awake, Mr. Darrak,” a heartwarming smile tipped up her lips at the sight of his two tiny guardians. “They haven’t left since you came out of surgery.”

“Where am I?” he cleared his raspy throat.

The blond-haired Tehrellian pulled a slim datadot from the side pocket of her blue and grey scrub and extended the holographic screen. Her thick hair was tied back into a ponytail, exposing the short points of her ears and the dual grey/blue markings sweeping from the base of her ears to the center of her cheekbones. “You’re in the medical sector of the Ekeron starpost. I’m Doctor Cellia T’mar,” she smiled through her melodic voice. “How are you feeling?”

“Great. Ready to take on the Xox.”

“You have your sense of humor. That’s a good sign,” she moved past the slumbering Will and checked his readouts. “Cellular regeneration is coming along nicely. You might be left with a couple of scars, but nothing more than that. You’re lucky to be alive.”

“I refuse to die like that. I intend to go out in a blaze of glory the galaxy will talk about for generations,” that, and he had three reasons to live.

“I see,” she scrolled through the diode’s transmissions. He wasn’t the first prideful wanderer she’d treated, though it was interesting that he kept that devil-may-care attitude even with a family.

“Where’s Selke? Is she all right?”

“Your wife is fine. She told us what happened, including how the children tried to take back the ship on their own and rescue you. The Anuleans on staff can’t get over your story. They’ve all collectively pledged to protect your family,” she smiled.

“Anuleans?” He asked, confused. “Here?” This was a Tehrellian station. The Tehrel were a neutral species that didn’t get involved in anyone’s situations. They were often employed as mediators, and ran a majority of the non-federation starposts, equipped with macryon scrub stations, which was why they remained neutral ground. Of course their stations had security and laws, but other than that, they stayed out of outsiders affairs.

“Mmhmm. Our chief medical officer operated on you herself. Doctor Laihaku dedicated her life to human medicine. She’ll be pleased to know you’ll make a full recovery.”

“Give her my thanks, will ya?” He’d heard that some Anuleans loved humans so much that they became their people’s equivalent to veterinarians, but he’d never met those particular members of their society until now. Apparently, he and his family were now the ‘box of kittens’ rescued and adopted by the staff.

“You can do that yourself when she comes to check on you.” She caught him shifting his gaze to Will and Terra. “Aside from Will’s head wound, their injuries were minor. He had a concussion. We were amazed he stayed awake for as long as he did, let alone fight. Terra wouldn’t sleep until he was allowed to. They just need some rest and they’ll be fine by morning,” she closed the datadot and removed the tube from his arm.

“When can we leave?”

“You’ll be cleared to go in a couple of hours. But you have to take it easy for at least a week. Stay away from anything strenuous. No heavy lifting, and no more firefights. Doctor’s orders.”

“No promises.”

She understood his ilk; rogues who lived for adventure and courting danger.

She lingered in the moment, watching the two slumbering in complete oblivion to this conversation. “We picked up something interesting about them.”

Yune’s heart skipped a beat and the monitor showed his rise in stress level. They’d figured out the kids were either part of the One Thousand, or that they were half ancient alien. And now he had to formulate a plan of escape.

She noted the change. “It’s nothing life-threatening, but there’s a strange genetic anomaly that’s affecting their growth. Mik children grow like weeds. Normally they would reach their adult height fifteen, so at their current age, they should be at least three to four inches taller than they are now. This anomaly slowed their physical growth rate by seventy percent. By our estimates, they won’t reach their full adult height for another fifteen years. Their childhood will last into their twenties. I’ve never seen anything like it, to be honest.”

“You said Mik children...,” he began.

“Well, yes. Why wouldn’t I?” she eyed him with slight confusion. “Anyway, I just thought you should be aware of this just in case they start to wonder why they’re much smaller than others their age. Good news is that you won’t have to buy new clothes for them every few months. Plus side for your wallet,” she lightened the mood with a smile.  
The slow aging process could be chalked up to their being half Altairan, but he said nothing about it. By her logic, a full Altairan would age even more gradually, making ‘childhood’ last for more than two decades at least.

“Oh, one more thing,” she made her voice as gentle as possible. “Our observance of Will and Terra’s behavior has us concerned.”

“Concerned how?”

“I’m sure everything is fine, but Will was overheard asking your wife if he was made to be a monster. I don’t know what would bring a ten-year-old to that conclusion, but she handled it well. Still I’d like for them to talk to someone here anyway. That goes for all of you.” She continued before he could interrupt. “Your ship is being repaired. You have a few days to recover. You could at least forfeit a little time to help your children work through their experiences. Perhaps help them make sense of things.”

She closed the datadot,.turned to go, though looked back. “They went through a harrowing experience, Mr. Darrak. Your son and daughter are very brave. You should be proud of them.”

“Huh? Um...”

He tried to stop her, but she left before he could.

His...son and daughter?

He’d assumed since they received medical treatment that they’d been scanned, and the doctors were unable to identify their human origin marker. She didn’t bring it up, and he wondered why. Maybe they thought their equipment malfunctioned, so they assumed that they were related based on their species, and the fact that Will and Yune had the same hair and eye color, but Terra may have taken after her mother.

Either way, he wasn’t prepared for that curve ball. Calling them his son and daughter felt odd, and yet a part of him deep down was a little ok with that. After what he witnessed today, maybe having them talk to a professional about the Horizon’s take-over - or even the loss of their planet and their time in Strafsend - wouldn’t be a bad idea. Anything said in Tehrellian confidence remained in that confidence. He just didn’t know if their neutrality extended to members of the One Thousand, or Altair/Human hybrid experiments balled up into one. If they learned who they are, the Tehrel might make an exception to their centuries-long-standing rule.

Selke entered a few minutes later carrying two black cups of coffee from the medical sector’s Darkmatter cafe. The sight of her and the brew lifted his spirits. “You are an absolute angel.” He scooted to sit up, grunting at the pull of the new tissue repairing the damaged tissue. “I don’t deserve you.”

“No, you don’t,” she handed him one and sat on the side of his bed. A small treatment patch adhered to the side of her head where she’d been injured in the engine room. “You were out for six hours. I got Doctor Laihaku’s permission, so I figured you’d want a pick-me-up.”

“You read my mind.” He sipped it happily.

She smirked at the inside joke between them.

“The staff here adopted us. And they seem to think Sparky and Squeaker are mine.”

“Well, they can’t very well be mine.” she explained softly. “They went through a full physical. I had to come up with something. When the scanner didn’t pick up their Altair DNA, I told them they were Mik, and that their mother was Masakan. She died when they were very young, and they got stuck with you.”

“Nice bluff. My poor fake wife.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”.

“Thank you for your condolences.” He sipped the coffee. “So, how long are repairs going to take?”

“A solid four days. The damage from the clothesline affected every system. We got the coolant issue figured out immediately. Now it’s a matter of time. You know Mik engineers; they’re not going to stop until she purrs like a Xanthorian cat.”

“Oh no,” he groaned. And how did he know them. Mik engineers were perfectionists and mechanical artists. They would try to enhance any spacecraft they could get their grease monkey paws on. And now they were getting their hands dirty in the guts of the Horizon. Every fiber of his being urged him to take control. “That is my ship. I don’t need them screwing anything up. I need to get down there.”

“Oh, no you don’t.” She used one hand to easily push him back down, which didn’t take much strength. He was still weak despite being from the strongest of the four human races. “Unless you want one of the Anuleans to carry you back here like a sack of shit-talking potatoes.”

He grumbled. The doctor did say he had a couple of hours left to heal. He could wait, though it wouldn’t be easy. “What happened to Marci?”

“I threatened to expose the entire crew of the Kellose to the Tehrel for endangering the lives of two of the One Thousand.”

He lowered the cup. “You told them?”

“They wouldn’t have left if I hadn’t. For all they know, I was lying, but they couldn’t take the risk of having the station’s entire security force hunting them down. Tullik’s not an idiot. At least he understands the importance of the One Thousand. Whatever else the Night Wraiths have done, endangering those Terrans breaches the Tehrel’s prime directive of non involvement. All races suffer because of the Xox, so the Night Wraiths’ actions would affect everyone.”

That answered his question. “Nearly killing two of the One Thousand would put them on top of the galaxy’s most wanted list.”

“Exactly. Tullik took my word for it and ran.”

“I wonder why Marci didn’t know about us, then. They pegged us on Masaka.”

“My guess is the Regents want to avoid as much outside ‘help’ as possible. Bounty hunters don’t have an allegiance to them, so they can’t control them. However, if word got out _here_ , the whole galaxy would have it out for the Night Wraiths, including the Xox.”

He relaxed. His wife was a beautiful genius, and he fell even more in love with her.

“That reminds me,” she pulled the portable shield from her pocket. “Marci might have her story, but she has no proof.”

“We should figure out how Sparky activated this,” he took it from her to look it over. The faint blue light in the center ring remained. Everyone knew the Xox energy source was a mystery. No one could replicate it, or had come close to getting their salvaged technology to work. It was rare to even find Xox wreckage, since most of their ships that lost a battle self destructed, taking any ships within range down with it. “There has to be some link between the Xox energy and what they use.”

“We can add that to the list,” she took it back. “For now, they’re Mik, and they’re yours.”

Even though she had told the medical staff that these were Yune’s children - Terra and Will Darrak - Marci would tell the Regents about the kids, which would lead them to this starpost to investigate. She would likely blab about receiving the info from Revi, and if Revi were compromised by the Regents, he would tell them their destination. And that meant... “You realize we can’t go to Nileia, now.”

“Yes, but there are other planets” They would find another world to live on for a short time, but ultimately, this experience taught them that they needed to remain mobile.

“I’ll search the database. It’ll give me something to do.” He hesitated before breaching another topic. “Did the doc tell you she wanted them to talk to a therapist?”

She paused. “She mentioned it.”

“So you think it’s a good idea?”

He had promised to double check important decisions with her from now on, and she was happy that he held true to his promise. “I do. This might be the only place they can.”

“And if they spill who they are?”

“I have a sense that the rules behind a counselor's door differ from the rest of the station.”

“And if it doesn’t?”

“Stop worrying,” She got up. “I’ll check on the progress of the Horizon. Get some rest,” she leaned over to kiss him, broke away delicately, and smiled, “dad.”

“Don’t do that,” he whined. “It’s weird.”

She left him with with a chuckle, and this new issue to stew over.

He rubbed at his right arm where the IV had been in place for hours, then gently moved Will’s hair aside to check the bandage for his own peace of mind. Of course, it was perfectly clean, sterilized, and healing. Terra’s arm was the same way.

For the next four days, he would need to pretend to be their father. Not only that, he would have to break the news to them when they woke up.

He hoped they already knew, and that he was the last one let in on this little rouse.

He picked up a datadot from the small side table to begin killing time with a frustrated, resigned sigh and scrolled through the planetary database.

After a moment, he stopped. His eyes drifted from the datadot to the ten-year-old asleep on guard at his side. In a motion of acceptance to his temporary role - an acceptance that reached far deeper than he was prepared for it to - Yune rested his hand gently on Will’s hair and smoothed it down.

He lowered the datadot, and for a moment, simply existed with the two accidental inclusions to his world. These rescued Terrans had grown on him so much, he couldn’t imagine life on the Horizon without their laughter filling the decks.

Keeping his hand there, he went back to searching for an alternate planet to Nileia to call a temporary home.

Will shifted slightly to get comfortable and draped his hand against the side of Yune’s arm. He fell back to sleep in seconds.

Maybe a few days to take a break on the station wouldn’t be so bad.

Maybe a few days as ‘dad’ wouldn’t be so bad.

* * * *

tbc

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #20: The Holding Cell.  
> It was originally intended to be the engineer’s quarters, but the Mik hired by the ship’s first owner converted an area of the engine room into a small living space instead. He’d preferred to sleep by the engine. Hence, Yune turned the former quarters into a holding cell.
> 
> ADDED CUT SCENE: (Selke's words of advice to Will in the hospital while Yune was undergoing surgery...)  
> “Aunt Selke, was I made to be a monster?” Will needed to know, despite Terra’s reassurance that they were given this gift to save the galaxy. 
> 
> She glanced down at him, stunned. “What?”
> 
> “I hurt people.”
> 
> She knelt down to be at his head height. “No, Will. You’re not a monster.”
> 
> “But I almost...I...” He couldn’t bring himself to admit that he’d nearly, willingly attempted to kill, even if it was out of defense. The weight of this pressed on his psyche so hard, it invaded every waking moment since the attack. 
> 
> She understood where this was heading, and needed to be truthful, but handle this delicately. Will and Terra were given a great power that they barely understood. She knew the scientists intentions for that power, but the children didn’t, and they were no longer under Regent control. “Yes, you are capable of causing damage and inflicting pain.”
> 
> Will hung his head.
> 
> “But so is everyone else.”
> 
> That drew his eyes up to her, to see the truth in her face.
> 
> “Your power is neither good nor evil. It all depends on what you do with it. And you,” she tenderly swept a lock of his dark bangs aside, “are good. You are kind, and you are strong. Kindness is ageless. As long as you stay that way and do what’s right - even if it means making hard decisions - you will never be a monster.”


	21. The Bad Guy Side

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yune takes his family to Outpost 23 in the Curble sector to negotiate with the Gaumori for a tractor beam upgrade part. Will gets into a fight, and Terra goes missing.

(image from Star Wars as a basic idea of what the asteroid colony looks like. Not exactly the same, but the scale is pretty accurate.)

 

_Three months later…_

 

 

 

 

 

> _Captain Yune Darrak. Personal log._
> 
> _I’m thrilled to say that after a month, we finally left that dung heap of a planet, Onikrion. The people were decent, but I’m over the constant sun. Sparky and Squeaker are happy to be out of the school we’d sent them to, and we’re happy to be away from that dirt-crusted pile of rocks in the hills the locals said were Altair ruins. We didn’t find anything but pockets of natural gas - which Will used to make every fart joke in the universe. Honestly, I was impressed as his imagination. He came up with some good material._
> 
> _We did discover a recurring symbol of a broken circle with a sphere in the center, and another of a sideways wavy line with three scratch marks through it - like someone hated the design and wanted to destroy it. The only oddity was that both symbols were always found side by side. We have no idea what any of it means. In short, we found dip and diddle._
> 
> _Because of that, we still haven’t told them they’re Altair. We just don’t have the answers they’ll need. Until we know anything more about the Altair beyond ‘a mysterious race that poofed two millennia ago for no reason,’ it’ll stay that way._
> 
> _We’re making a pit-stop at Outpost Twenty-Three in the Curble sector to pick up a tractor beam upgrade part that I can only get from the Gaumori - unfortunately. It would take me forever to find what I need in the Patch from a derelict, but I’m not willing to spend weeks sifting through a quarter of a light year of garbage. So, I’m opting for convenience and time, but sacrificing my sense of smell. If I can’t get what I need here, then we’ll have no choice but to go live in the Patch for a while._
> 
> _For the record, I can’t stand Gaumori. They’re as sincere as a politician’s handshake and twice as greasy._
> 
> _This trip is going to be made of flowers and sunshine. The kids are gonna love it here._
> 
>  

_Outpost Twenty-Three..._

 

“I hate it here,” Will complained as he walked away from the Horizon. 

“Why couldn’t we stay on the ship?” Terra mirrored him. 

“You were the ones who couldn’t stop talking about how ‘cool’ it would be to see the inside of an asteroid colony that ‘looked like a giant chicken nugget.’” Yune clicked a small handheld security fob over his head, remotely activating the Horizon’s security protocols, and clipped to the device to his belt. 

The Horizon rested in a wide hanger bay between the larger bulks of a boxy Tagron freighter and an old Enkai space yacht with a smooth insignia on it. It was likely stolen and the thief needed a new ident code, just like they did.

“That was before I walked outside. This place smells like a butt,” he scrunched up his nose. 

“Yeah, and it doesn’t look anything like a chicken nugget. More like a dry, stinky sponge,” Terra didn’t hide her disgust. The yellowish lighting didn't give her fuzzy feelings. 

“That butt aroma is part of the appeal,” Yune played devil’s advocate, though he agreed with them. “Take a good whiff. Some people come from lightyears away just to get a snoot full.”

“Ew, why?” Will couldn’t believe any being with a nose would want to come here, let alone inhale. “It’s like having your dirty socks shoved up my nose.”

“The inhabitants are mostly Gaumori, so the atmosphere mimics that of their home planet, Gaumaron; sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. There’s not enough sulfur to harm you, though. It just makes you regret you need to breathe to live,” he paused, “and my socks aren’t that bad.”

“Every laundry day disagrees with you,” Terra folded her arms. 

“We should wad them up in a giant spitball launcher as a bio weapon against the Regents,” Will joked. 

He and Terra both laughed at the imagery of an enemy vessel covered in a green stink cloud from balled up socks shot into its hull by the Horizon’s non-existent torpedo canon.

“Fire in the hole!” she cupped her hands around her smile at poking fun at their uncle.

“Krrreepewww!” Will mimicked the sound effect of a weapons launch. 

“Keep it up and laundry day is all yours for the next month.”

“She started it,” Will defended himself. 

“I did not. Aunt Selke--!” 

“Both of you, stop it,” Selke ended the bickering.

“Thank you,” Yune knew he could always count on his wife to have his back. 

“Your uncle doesn’t want to hear the truth. 

He sulked at her betrayal to the enemy. 

“I thought you said this was an old Regent outpost. I haven’t seen a Regent yet,” Will noticed that none of the aliens around bore the two toned diamond shaped badge with a smaller star in the center that formed the tell-tale insignia of the Masakan Federation. 

“And you probably won’t. It’s belonged to the Gaumori for over a century.”

“Why?”

“The Regents built this place as a temporary outpost until starpost forty-seven was completed in their own space. Once it was done, they gave this rock to the local government as part of the deal for being allowed to build it, and washed their hands of it.”

“They didn’t wash anything,” Terra slid her finger along the wall and came up with a line of grime. She wiped her hand on her pants. “Why is it so gross?”

“It’s had a hundred years to accumulate scum,” Yune stepped aside as a grey alien with webbed hands, a fin running down his spine through his long jacket, and a face full of tentacles that drooped to his waist walked by. He guarded a small hover pallet piled with multiple containers the size of briefcases, “in more ways than one.”. 

“Rattlids,” Selke uttered the nomenclature with disdain. She recognized that species - known to favor smuggling as a go-to occupation. “Looks like the only people who come here are those who don’t want to go through normal channels.”

“Like us,” Will muttered. He knew he and Terra were adopted by smugglers and bounty hunters, but that wasn’t all Yune and Selke did. They explored the galaxy of their own free will. They were adventurers. They traded goods, skills, and supplies on planets and space stations. On one small moon with a pre-FTL society, Will remembered them using a modified chemical compound from the ship to decontaminate a local town’s irradiated water supply. Both could have easily used the Horizon’s weapons to threaten the town into giving them what they needed. But they didn’t. They saved the town, made friends, took only what was offered as thanks, and moved on. 

Will always thought they were like Indiana Jones: good guys with a checkered past, doing the right thing, but sometimes breaking the law to do it. 

Now, being on this backwater rock sneaking around in the shadows of the black market, he had to wonder if, despite their deeds, they were on the ‘bad guy’ side of the galaxy.  

Yune and his small family boarded a square elevator. He pressed a Masakan symbol for the level he wanted and the car moved upward away from the docking bay ring skirting the bottom of the girthy asteroid. Each floor thrummed by in time to a pulsing light in the wall.

“How do you know so much about this place, Uncle Yune?” Terra broke the silence. 

“I’ve been here before,” he explained. Though it wasn’t a lie - he did have the misfortune of stopping here on two occasions. The true reason was that his history professor at the Regent academy on Mikra talked about this outpost like a medical technician discussing the failed attempts that lead to modern day breakthroughs. Most Mik engineers had a fascination for training wheels technology, and those of his people stationed at the academy were no different.

The elevator doors slid open to reveal a wide hall identical to the one below. Unfortunately, the smell remained like it stuck to their clothing. 

Terra covered her nose. “I officially never want to visit the Gaumori homeworld if it smells like this.” 

Will pinched his nose. “Ever.”

“Because you said that, it likely just wound up on our vacation spot list.” Selke said. 

Yune came back with a lighthearted jab. “I thought you’d like it there. It reminds me of visiting your sister’s when she cooks,” 

“Eneiya would slap you back to your ancestors if she heard you say that.” Selke planted her hands on Will’s shoulders and bent slightly to speak low, “He loves to pick fights with her.”

Terra giggled.

“I don’t pick anything. She starts every one of them,” he glanced back in defense. “And she knows I hit back.”

“She counts on it. She’s called you her greatest source of entertainment.”

“Glad I’m amusing,” he sprinkled his reply with sarcasm. “Next time, I’m stealing her cookbook.”

Selke rolled her eyes with a huff. “Of course you will.”

“You’re placating me, aren’t you.”

“Oh no. I wouldn’t do that,” she kept up the facade.

And yet he knew that was a move to save his ego. “You’re lucky you have a nice ass.”

“Ooo,” Terra slapped her hand over her mouth from Yune’s usage of profanity. 

“Oh come on, I’ve heard you two say worse. Which you shouldn’t. So don’t follow my example.”

“So, we should ignore everything you say,” Will ventured.

“No.”

“So, we should repeat everything you say?” Terra continued.

“No.”. 

“So, we can pick and choose whatever we want to hear?” Will kept it going.

He held up his finger in front of Will’s face. “Stop it.”

The kids bumped their fists together, creating a small, brief spark. 

They walked past natural porous alcoves turned into homes or businesses, and small public areas with benches, alien plants, and restaurants. The open public spaces were the Masakan elements included to give a feeling of welcomeness, home, and provided psychological health. However, the Gaumori didn’t seem to care for them, and so were kept up to the minimum standards. 

They meandered through the rust-colored halls of Outpost Twenty-Three and up another four levels. The light grey floor bore the scars of more than a century of foot traffic and scratches made by wheels from carts unworthy of anit-gravity tech integrations. Patches of rusted metal formed corners, and reinforced the walls with beams protruding like haphazardly slapped-on bandages. These were obvious additions made after the Regents skipped town.

Alens adorned in familiar Masakan styles, and unfamiliar fashion choices moved about on their own business. Rings and jewelry dangled from the heads of a few bald, green skinned women wearing sweeping, gossamer-like dresses, and chatting among themselves. 

A few of the passerbies glanced down at the two children, scowling, or smiling. Most of the grins held a malicious intent rather than a friendly welcome. Throughout this trip, both kids noticed a decidedly small Human presence - probably because no one could stand to remain here for long. 

Terra gasped and pressed herself to Yune’s arm when a green skinned, bald alien with yellow cartilage ridges along his jaw, back of his head, and tops of his hands deliberately stopped in their path and smiled down at her beneath gold irises. His ears joined behind his head by a thick bone that looked to be spray painted the same sickly yellow and green shades. 

Yune kept himself in front of his family, putting on a threatening posture. 

The shorter alien took on an abashed tone. “I was only passing by, Human. No need to get defensive,” he gestured lightly toward the kids, “It’s not often we see young Humans that aren’t on a dinner plate,” he gave a shark’s grin. 

Terra’s eyes widened as she grabbed Will’s hand in what anyone else would think was a move to find protection. 

He felt a minute amount of power pull out of him. She was preparing to defend herself. After hearing these aliens considered their species a delicacy, he didn’t blame her for wanting to add an extra punch to any attack she could deliver. 

“Is there a reason you’re in our personal space, or are you just bored and looking for trouble?” Yune snared his attention away from the kids. 

“I noticed the Felorian,” the alien prowled around Selke. “She could fetch you a handsome sum.”

She brought up her pulse pistol into the underside of his chin. “I think you need to keep moving, friend” she threatened. 

The alien hissed air between his teeth slowly through a smile, as though her defiance at his attempted authority over her turned him on. “I could use your specific talents in negotiations.”

“Why would I ever help you?” she snarled. 

“You could give me an advantage. With your assistance ‘suggesting’ my buyers take deals favorable to me, you, by proxy, will become very, very rich,” his words dripped with greed that congealed on the walls like invisible slime. “You are beautiful, strong,and--”

“Married,” Yune interjected. He stepped forward when the alien failed to pick up the hint as strong as the atmosphere. He would need to put this in words that the alien’s culture would accept. “As in she belongs to me.”

“Ah, I see. You are already using her skills for yourself. You are intelligent to bind yourself to a Felorian.” He addressed Yune with an open upward palm. “Then I’ll give you twenty gold traetium bars for her services.”

“She’s not for sale,” Yune looked confused at how thick headed this alien appeared. “I would have assumed the pulse pistol to your face was a dead give-away.” If he needed Felorian assistance so badly, he had to be a mediocre businessman at best by his peoples standards. “Maybe you do need her help,” he added in an off-handed, side swept candor.

“Yune,” she was appalled he would say that. 

The alien ignored them both. “What about marks? Will a thousand suffice? Or Tehrellian dyns. Traxian qualdreg? Perhaps O’alli furnaks--”

“Again, not for sale,” he insisted. “In any currency.” 

“The children, then,” he eyed Terra hungrily as though she were a well done steak dinner. “They’re hybrids if they are yours. They would have her abilities. I... _ We _ can profit greatly from either of them when their abilities develop. Think of the possibilities of a partnership!”

Will stepped in front of Terra just as Selke’s fragile hold on her anger snapped. 

She slammed the alien up against the wall, pressing her arm to his neck and shoving her weapon against the side of his head. “Touch them, look at them, breathe in their general direction, and the only thing going through your mind will be a plasma bolt.”

“Human!” he barked toward Yune, “control your female!”

He folded his arms. “Nah.”

“How can you let her carry on this act?”

“We work side by side with our females. We’re partners. And in this case, I back her one-hundred percent.” He gestured lazily toward him. “Have at ‘em, honey.”

He scrunched up his nose as if he’d finally had a sniff of the outpost’s atmosphere from the olfactory perspective of a Human. “Repulsive.”

Her pulse pistol powered up. 

Forced into a position to concede to the inferior of any race, the alien snarled and gave up. “You fire a single shot outside the designated zones, and station security will be here in five seconds. Do you want to take that risk, Felorian?”

She hated to give in, but they needed to keep a low profile. She let him go. “I don’t need to shoot you to make you regret your life decisions. Now. Leave.”

The slow growl and tentative backstep suggested that the alien was at least somewhat familiar with the strong will of Felorian women. “I have other engagements to attend to anyway. Until next we meet,” he backed off, and continued on his way. 

Terra let go of Will. “Wh-what was that?”

“A Gaumori,” Selke holstered her pistol. “Disgusting little hempek.”

“Hempek?” Will questioned. 

“The closest translation for you would be a troll,” she clarified. “And from what I know of that definition, it was made for these creatures.” Over the years, she had studied elements of various Terran cultures in order to explain the phrases or words alien to the children that had no specific translation in their language.  

In a microsecond, their translators logged in that word to clarify it from now on, though Will and Terra wouldn’t forget it. The word was too cool. Will swore to turn off his translator more often in order to learn the Felorian language. 

He was so concerned about a possible firefight breaking out that he’d completely forgotten one important detail…  “Wait, he actually thought you were our mom?” he paused, too confused as to how anyone could make that mistake. “Is he blind?”

“He’s more than blind. He’s an idiot,” Yune made sure the setting on his pulse pistol remained at bind. “That’s probably why he’s out here alone creeping around like a Siverian bark beetle.”  

They continued on. “The Gaumori are traders and dealers practicing their business acumen in groups,” he explained softly. “Oddly incisive, but not to be trusted.”

“So, why are we here if they can’t be trusted?” Terra asked.

He answered smoothly. “Because I can trust my old contacts even less. This place isn’t important enough to be on the Xox’ radar. Believe it or not, Squeaker, you’re safer here than on a Masakan starpost.”

“Not by much,” Selke folded her arms. She’d argued against bringing them onto the outpost, but resigned to the fact that leaving them alone on the Horizon wasn’t an option. There were Regent ships running back and forth along the outer rim of this field, making this an out-of-the-way pit stop for them. If, in the rare event, one of them spotted the Horizon and came to check it out solely based on the fact that it was a Mikran light freighter, having it completely vacant and locked down was a better option than having the kids aboard pre-packaged for capture. 

It was just probable enough for them to entertain this precaution, and for Yune to obtain a new ident code. Even though it’s been just over two years, the Regents’ search for Will and Terra hadn’t abated one bit. 

“What do they sell?” Will wondered. 

“Anything deemed profitable; furniture, parts, those little dangling toys you can hang in the cockpit, other businesses… The only exception to their rule is trafficking living beings. They’re not into that.”

“What are they into?”

“Things that go ‘boom’ mostly.”

“They sell weapons?” Terra clarified, looking around at all of the aliens, and finally noticing most of them were from the green-skinned species. “To who?”

Yune glanced back and locked eyes with the small girl. “Everyone.” 

All space-faring species wanted to protect themselves from the Xox, and the Gaumori had figured out how to play the field to their advantage.

They continued on until they reached a moderately sized round chamber through circular double doors split down the center and entered.  

Species of all kinds roamed the room with datadots, and their own versions of information pads. Almost every group consulted with one or two Gaumori. The bustle and din of the murmuring crowd striking deals filled the room. A few heated haggling arguments waged in alcoves tucked into one curve of the room, while a row of teller windows lined the other. A large double door took up the farthest end. An Anulean ducked out of it with his small Gaumori liaison striding quickly beside him, chattering away about how his client would be pleased with the recent purchase. Seats sized to accommodate the most common-height aliens created a circle off to the side next to a complimentary Darkmatter coffee cart - available to all guests. 

A small table toy with a holographic block display sat amidst the seats like it was haphazardly put there as a faint afterthought to placate children if their parents were dumb enough to bring their young to negotiations. Two Gaumori a couple of years younger than Will and Terra were engrossed in gameplay. The game glitched, causing the children to complain when the blocks reset. 

The entire room was a display of the thickest oil of capitalism congealing at the bottom of the deepest cracks of society.

“You brought us to a bank?” Will slouched in disappointment. 

“It’s a greeting hub for business transactions.” Yune said. “Banks are less aesthetically pleasing.”

“I hate it already,” Terra frowned. 

“Can we go?” Will fidgeted. 

“Just hold on, Sparky. Selke, you got a read-me file on this place?” Yune glanced to her. 

By his question, she knew he wanted her to read the room. “There’s nothing but ulterior motives and deception. It’s so thick, I can’t pinpoint a single source. I agree with Terra. I feel dirty just being here.” 

He could tell that on his own, but he wanted a separate opinion to validate and strengthen his observation. He rarely ever asked for her assistance - as his pride dictated that he figure out situations on his own and live with the consequences of his decisions - but in this case, regarding the upgrade part he needed for the tractor beam, and having two of the One Thousand present, he needed the upper hand to adjust his game plan. 

This was going to be a long day. He turned to Selke. “ I’ll be back as soon as I can - an hour at most.”

“Don’t start a fight,” Selke warned. 

He shrugged and stepped toward the coffee cart, offering her a lopsided grin as if to say ‘that’s part of my business sense.’

As if triggered by a silent alarm, one of the Gaumori across the room moved confidently towards them with his sales pitch at the ready. 

“I want to go with you,” Will jogged over to his uncle and looked up as the older man poured a cup of brew. 

“Not this time, Sparky,” Yune kept his voice low, knowing full well his acceptance of the coffee meant he wanted to do business, and their location would be invaded in seconds. “I know you’re curious, but trust me, it’s better if you stay here.”

“Can we at least go back to the ship?”

Yune lowered his head until he was at face level with Will and grinned. “Not used to the smell yet?” 

Will narrowed his eyes, staring straight into the slim gold ringed contacts of his uncle’s - a feat he could rarely do. “You’d have to rip my sinuses out for that.”

“Just stay out of trouble. And stay in control,” he knew the boy would understand what he meant. 

Will acquiesced, though with a huff of severe displeasure. He wanted to learn more about the Gaumori, and to see what kind of equipment and weapons they sold. 

The well-dressed businessman approached with his hands clasped. “Excuse me, sir. I couldn’t help but notice you enjoying our refreshments.”

Yune turned to face him. “Yes. It’s one of my favorite brews. You have an astute gift for choosing the best.”

That pleased the salesman. “It’s on the house, of course. Perhaps, we have something else that may interest you just as highly. I am Wedrey, and will be happy to assist you, Mister...”

“Darrak.”

The salesman gave a shark’s grin. “Welcome to Outpost Twenty-Three, Mister Darrak.”

This Gaumori stood at the same head height as Yune. One of their many sales tactics was to choose one of their employees that matched the customer’s height as closely as possible in order for negotiations to feel comfortable. Most were five inches shorter than an average Mik male, so for this colony, they made it a point to hire any abnormally tall members of their species to deal with Mik. As for Anuleans, however, they did the best they could.

Yune glanced down to his niece and nephew. “Stay here with your aunt.”

“Why can’t I go with you?” Will asked. 

The Gaumori kept his fake smile pasted on. “The Age of Inclusion to participate in negotiations is twelve galactic standard years. You’re too young.” 

He froze at the mention of that word. Both his and Terra’s tension level spiked. Neither had heard the word ‘inclusion’ since their escape from Masaka two-and-a-half years ago. Regardless of its formal definition, that word would always be associated with their experience.

Yune grew tired of the kid’s insistence. “Stay here, or I’ll make you do extra calculus homework.”

“I hate calculus.”

“I know.”

“Fine,” he relented. 

“As a policy,” Wedrey continued as if the interruption from the human child never occurred, “all communications with outside sources are prohibited. Any attempt from either side to send or receive communications will be blocked to ensure an honest deal free of third party involvement.” 

Yune agreed to the terms. 

Will watched his uncle walk away with the alien. “But what if something happens?” he called out.

“Will, enough,” Selke turned him away so he would stop bothering his uncle. “We all get to suffer together.”

“Can we go exploring?” Terra climbed into one of the oversized seats meant for an Anulean. Her feet dangled off the floor. “I’m bored.”

Selke poured herself a cup of coffee and sipped it. They couldn’t return home yet, but a small tour might be ok if they stayed to populated areas. “Well, he’ll be at this for a while, so I don’t see the harm in taking a look around.”

Terra grinned and kicked her feet. 

Will moved over to the game table to check it out out of curiosity anyway. He watched the other two younger kids play with the holographic blocks until it flickered and glitched. The Gaumori children whined and hit the reset button to start the game over. 

“Go away, Human,” the bald alien youth swept his hand out at Will. “You’re messing up the game.”

“It’s not me,”  _ this time,  _ Will thought. He knew the EM pulses he and Terra emitted could disrupt technology, but not if he wasn’t focused on the system he wanted to affect. 

“Wanna play?” the youngest boy smiled up at him. 

“Don’t invite him, Sovah,” the eldest snapped. 

“Why not?” 

“He’s a Human. Get it through your skull already, idiot.”

“It looks like the emitters are out of alignment. We have a smaller one like this on the Horizon,” Will offered up his meger talents as an olive branch. “Lemme see if I can adjust it.” He searched for a panel, finding one along the side, and opened it. 

“What’s the Horizon?” Sovah asked in genuine curiosity.

“It’s a ship. We live on it.” 

“You live on a ship?” his golden eyes widened in awe. “Wow. You must get to see everything.”

“It’s pretty cool. Last week, we saw a planet with acid storms covering the entire surface. And the week before that, we had to get so close to a pulsar that--”

“I don’t care,” the older Gaumori slapped down Will’s reply down, “Who cares that you live on a stupid ship?” The malice in his tone reflected jealousy and contempt. 

Will took the hint and stopped talking. After tinkering with the system for a moment, the glitching stopped, and the colors cleared. “There.”

“All right!” The alien grinned at the unearned victory of having a functional toy. “Now go away.”

“Pax,” Sovah chided, “stop being mean.”

“Why? Humans are only good for grunt work. Everyone knows that,” Pax was completely clueless to the insulting nature of his attitude. As far as he’d been taught by his society, he was in the right. 

“No, they’re not,” Sovah shouted. A tinge of red dyed his light green cheeks as his anger grew. “You take it back.”

“Make me,” Pax snarled face to face with the boy.

“Guys, it’s fine--” Will began.

“Shut up,  _ utaq! _ ” Pax spat the insulting Gaumori word into Will’s face. 

Though it had no direct translation, the threatening force of it was clear. He didn’t need to know its exact meaning to understand it was a horrible, belittling slight.

Terra pulled the earbuds out of her ears. She dropped from the chair and rested her hand on the pistol at her thigh. 

Selke stopped her, shaking her head. 

“What is your problem?” Will stepped forward. “I just helped you.”

“I didn’t need your help,” Pax stood a good two inches taller, and he was bigger boned. 

“Yeah, because you banging on it like an angry gorilla was clearly fixing it,” Will stood his ground. He wondered if he’d been allowed to age like a normal Terran, if he would be taller than this kid. He knew he still looked like an eight year old. On Earth, he would be almost thirteen. The longer he had to live with this snails-pace growth rate, the more his lack of height became a sore spot. 

“Don’t call me a gor-gah--”

“Gorilla,” Sovah clarified.

“Whatever. You probably made it up anyway. My dad says you’re all stupid, and he’s right. Get lost, Human.” Pax shoved him backwards. 

Will stumbled, but stared him down, feeling his anger and need to attack rise. 

“Are you gonna cry? Cry for your mommy, little baby.”

The mention of his mother shot his need to smash Pax’s nose in like a grape.“Shut up!”  He clenched his fists and his teeth to hold back the energy building under his skin. 

Pax grinned. “You wanna fight me,  _ utaq _ ? Come on. Hit me. I dare you. Or are you too much of a scaredy-quib.”

His fist shook as he raised it. He could easily start a full blown fight, and with his power, would win with one attack. But he hesitated. It took a great deal of will power to walk away without plowing his energy-charged fist into the Gaurmori’s straight, pointed nose.

“That’s right. Run away, weakling. Run back to your female like a little baby,” Pax jeered. 

Sovah looked at his hands in guilt as his older brother sat down to continue playing with the now fully-functional holographic toy as if the confrontation never occurred. 

Will didn’t bother to look back as he marched toward the exit.

Terra put her music player back in her pocket and scowled at the boys. “Who spit in their corn flakes?” 

Selke placed her hand on his shoulder to show she was proud of him for walking away, and to make sure he was okay.

He shrugged away from her touch and stormed out of the greeting room. 

He didn’t want her approval, or her consolations. He wanted to hit something so hard it would break into the next dimension.

Terra stole a look back as she and their aunt followed at a close, but respectable distance. 

About ten minutes later, the three reached an upper level domed off by iradesteel providing a panoramic view of the Kurble asteroid field. An area off to the side held a small restaurant with seats up against the viewport. There were a few stalls, shops, and a souvenir stand selling those little dangling toys you can hang in the cockpit. 

Most of the people milling about were Gaumori, but a few O’alli, Tagron, Trax, Onikri, Humans, and other humanoid aliens mixed into the group. 

The area was an old impact site of a smaller asteroid that was bubbled in by the Regents.

Terra gasped at the sight of the field. None of the windows on the Horizon gave them this kind of expansive visual. She ran up to the observation barrier left open to the level below for a maximum panoramic view, and drank in the sight. “Wow… Will, look at this!” She had seen asteroid fields before, but viewing it from an asteroid itself was a new experience. 

Selke told her to stay here, then moved across to the nearby souvenir stand. 

Sure, the view was cool, but his thoughts kept going back to the fight. Will lagged behind. He stared upward as a few tiny rocks floated harmlessly overhead, kept at a safe distance by the outpost’s deflector array. All attention to his surroundings faded away. He bumped into a grown Tagron male.

“Watch it, runt,” the man snarled down at him. The leathers of his outfit creaked with his motions. 

Will sumbled back. His heart slammed into his chest. “S-sorry.”

The Tagron growled in annoyance and moved on without giving him any more thought. That tiny human was a spec of dust in the plans of his day.

Will sighed in relief when the Tagron disregarded him. An illogical part of his mind feared that they had an interconnected network, and so the whole of the Tagron species knew what he had done. Ever since his first encounter with one from the attack on the Horizon not long ago, he’d developed a strong dissonance of unease around them. Selke knew about this, and that it was triggered by his encounter with the Night Wraith member in the cramped confines of the ship’s access tunnels. She tried to help him overcome his fear, but it remained. Though the galaxy was terrified of the Xox, he had never seen one, so he would rather be in a room with one of them than with a Tagron. 

An O’alli teenager staggered into him. He caught her before she could fall. “Whoa.” 

She blinked up at him with purple eyes - a hybrid Masakan/O’alli. Her skin held a faint blue tint, and her long blonde hair was kept in a braid. However, the dark circles under her eyes indicated she’d had a restless night. 

“Are you ok?”

She gripped his shoulder. “You have to leave. Please. Get out of here.” 

“Why? Let me help you home or something.”

“No. Lemme go. I can’t… I...I -- “  She sneezed directly into his face before she could answer. 

“Ah!” Will wiped his face off with the long sleeve of his jacket. “Gross!”

She sniffled. “I’m sorry.”

She seemed to be apologizing for more than simply running into him, but before he could ask her any questions, she stumbled away into the crowd. 

Outpost Twenty-Three had no redeeming qualities. “I can’t wait to get off this rock.”

Terra glanced to him when he slouched on the railing next to her. “Wow. You are having the second worst day in history.”

“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” he slumped with his chin resting on hands. 

“You didn’t pick up a coin tails up, or step on a crack, did you?”

“No, and this outpost is full of cracks. It’s an asteroid,” he shrugged. “Maybe I’m just cursed.” 

“Well don’t pass it onto me.” Her face contorted in disgust when he spit in his palm and pressed it against her cheek. “Eeeeewww! Gross!”

“There,” he went back to leaning on the railing in his indifferent, tacit posture. “Now we’re both cursed.”  
She wiped her cheek off on her jacket sleeve. “I’m gonna get you back for that. You’ll never see it coming.” 

He continued to stare at the lethargic movements of the asteroids. 

She expected him to come back with a smart-ass retort that would lead them into a light game of playfully shoving the other, and everything would return to normal. When he chose to remain sullen, it threw her off. “Hey, you aren’t still mad about that major jerk-wad, are you?” 

“No,” he replied to fast with too much heat.

His lie was as transparent to her as irradesteel. “Screw him. You could totally take him. You should have charged up your fist and punched him in his stupid green face.”

“Yeah, well I couldn’t,” he snapped, “You know we can’t.” He huffed a breath. “We can’t be ourselves at all. I hate it.”

She leaned on the railing next to him. “Me, too.” She rested her hand on his arm. “Cheer up. Uncle Yune will be back soon, and we can go home.”

He began to feel the threads of her power blending with his in an attempt to help him fight the negativity. For the first time in his new existence beyond Earth, it made him illogically angry. He slipped away from her touch. 

She stood there, stunned. He had never pulled away from her once since they were abducted. They had the occasional fight, of course, but they always accepted the other. That small, wordless act hurt so much, she couldn’t speak for a moment. He had outright rejected her. “Will, what’s gotten into you?”

He tried to explain the salt in his mood, though this was the first time he’d experienced this particular situation, and didn’t know how to react. So, he simply...reacted, “I can handle this myself. I don’t need people saving me all the time. Just...just leave me alone. I don’t need your help!” 

She swallowed back a tear and tightened her lips into a thin line. “Fine, William Kade. I’ll leave you alone,” she snapped, using his full name on purpose as a way to verbally detach herself from him and express her heartbreak at being pushed away. Her mother used to use all three of her names when Terra was in serious trouble. The method always worked. “I don’t care what you do. Handle it yourself. Handle everything by yourself if you’re such a grown-up! I don’t need you, either!” 

He leaned up when she ran away. “Terra--” he began, but  let her go. She wouldn’t go far. So what if she was mad? He could protect himself and fight back. He might be little, and he might never be as physically strong as Yune, but in no way was he weak. Without him, their uncle would be a lifeless corpse on a comet jetting through the deep reaches of space. Without him, the ship would have been taken by space pirates. She could go off and cry it out, and when they got home, she would understand that he’s a protector, an adventurer, like his uncle and Indiana Jones, capable of fighting his own battles alone. 

And yet he had seriously upset the one person who meant more to him than his own life. He was still adamant in his determination to combat feeling weak, but he should at least offer an apology to his other half. “Terra, I’m--” but no one stood next to him.  His heart pounded in growing panic. “Terra?”

She hadn’t just distanced herself from him, she had completely disappeared. 

Terra had vanished. 

Will rushed to the souvenir stand, calling his aunt’s name, but only two Gaumori women with golden hoop earrings loping around their heads were left chatting off to the side. Selke wasn’t here, either. 

“Are you ok?” one of the concerned women bent slightly, reaching out her hand in concern. 

Their question went in one ear and out the other. He stepped back. His mind became too clouded with panic. “Terra! Aunt Selke!” He ran to the center of the public space and turned in frantic circles, trying to see in every direction for any glimpse of his family - clothing, hair, Terra’s sense...anything. 

Neither she nor Selke were anywhere in sight. 

In the vast central hub, amid scattered civilians ignoring his existence, Will stood alone.

 

\----

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #21:  
> The Antana asteroid field was a planet called Antana 3, but the planet shattered from tectonic instability a thousand years ago. It’s a young field. The planet was around during the time of the Altair, and they did visit it.


	22. Separated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selke finds herself staring down the barrel of an offer she can't refuse, Terra is used as a pawn, Yune is stuck in negotiations, and Will encounters an eccentric woman who knows more than she lets on. Can Will find his twin before it's too late?

###  **Chapter 22 - Separated**

Two arguing male voices invaded her bliss of unconsciousness. The headache assaulting Selke only grew worse from the bickering bleeding into her ears. She wanted to slap whoever it was into next week to get them to shut up.

“She’s mine after the demonstration if she survives.”

“Hah! Mougru won’t part with her for the meager amount you’re willing to pay.”

“He will once he sees what else I have to offer.”  
“What’s that? Your collection of O’alli dad jokes and a little square candy dispenser from Terra?”

“Everything from that planet is worth fifty times its weight in traetium.”

She pushed herself up to a sitting position and placed her hand to her head. Her equilibrium shifted enough to make her dizzy, then settled back down. 

She sat on the floor of an off-white octagonal cell with a force field buzzing continuously across the front wall. The holding cell was definately of Masakan origin. The first thing she thought was that the engineers in charge needed to adjust the power flow to decrease or stop the hum. Any more energy through the emitters would cause the components to blow. If  she had the kids' abilities, she could break herself out.

Her muddled mind worked through her most recent memories to piece together what happened. 

The last thing she recalled was paying for a gift for Yune  when a sharp pain stabbed silently into the nape of her neck and she lost consciousness. 

The kids...

They had better be alright, or whoever kidnapped her would need major medical attention. 

“She’s awake,” one of the two short Gaumori nudged his companion. “Pay up.” 

The other grumbled as he handed over a few coins of unknown currency. They had made a bet as to how long she could be unconscious for, and the winner became clear. 

“Did you have a nice rest, Felorian?” the first smiled in a false convivial manner. 

Had her scowl been a fist, it would have right hooked that stupid grin into the backside of his skull. “What’s going on here? Where am I?”

The first one continued as he pocketed his winnings. “You are a guest of Mougru.”

“Mougru?” She glanced around. “If this is how he treats his guests, I’d hate to see how he treats his enemies.”

At that moment, a single sliding door to the side opened, and the same Gaumori that propositioned to buy her earlier that day strode in. His build was more slim than his companions, and he spoke with an arrogant tone he adopted to counteract his non-threatening form. Yet the level of joy he derived from holding the reigns of control in this situation were genuine. 

Selke recognized him immediately. “You…” 

“I told you we would meet again, Felorian.” He retained a pompous air as he waved the other two out. 

“About our compensation,” the second one asked. 

“You will get what I promised in a moment. Now, leave me alone with the female,” he ordered in a way that made him sound like he was trying too hard to be a confident, intimidating force. 

The first Gaumori tightened his lips into a thin line and pushed his finger into the other’s personal face space. “If you cheat us in any way, no force in this system will save you, Mougru.”

He pretended not to be bothered by it, but Selke could tell the threat rattled him. Her husband was right: this being treating her like an oobo in a cage did not have what it took to be considered a decent businessman by his people’s standards. These two lackies were hired thugs. He wasn’t in a partnership. Selke needed to play on this to her advantage. 

“Now that we’re alone,’ Mougru looked her up and down, though his eyes rested beyond comfortable levels at her chest, “Let’s talk business.”

“How about we don’t. You obviously have a hard time taking ‘no’ for an answer.” She got as near to the force barrier as she could. “If you don’t want to see your ass from the inside, you’ll lower this field.”

“You are in no position to make threats, Selke Kellnaris.” He stepped closer in his arrogance. 

Shock spurred through her. “How do you know who I am?” 

He spread his arms. “What Gaumori doesn’t know the famous Felorian who lured a Xox battle cruiser into the ice rings of Kedren, and destroyed it six years ago? A lone Gaumori ship witnessed the whole thing, though it was left in pieces after the fight. That ship had one survivor who reported the incident to the Conglomerate on Gaumaron. Were it not for him, I would have never found out about your...heroic deed.”

“I’m sorry for the loss of the vessel. There was nothing I could do to prevent it. It was an unfortunate accident.” 

“‘Unfortunate.’ Such a...dismissive word.”

He clasped his hands behind his back and paced a small, lazy circle. “But, the Conglomerate understands the situation, and they consider the ship an acceptable loss in war. It is rare for a single small craft such as the Tapheila to succeed in destroying a Xox scar. That’s one less of their forces to spread terror through the stars. To the Gaumori, you are a hero.”

“Is this how you treat your heroes?”

“Only those worthy of redemption.”

“I’m not sure I follow.”

“I have ears around the local Regent starbase. It seems you and your husband are in trouble with the Masakan Federation. Sadly, I don’t know the details; the file on you is classified under top priority, but that alone tells me it’s serious enough to use their highest level security codes to access it. I’ve kept this to myself, although I could have sold this information a thousand times over for a great deal of profit. However, I chose selflessly not to, because - as our hero, I’m sure you would like an advantage against your enemy.” His grin held a razor’s cut. 

“What kind of advantage?”

“I will give you the locations of the latest fleet positions so that you may avoid those areas,” he held up one finger, “but only if you cooperate.”

She could pick up a pain of loss from him, though it was shrouded in a melange of filthy anger, deception, and desperation. Yet, he didn’t seem to be lying. “It’s enticing, but I won’t help you; especially under duress. Release me, and I won’t mention this to security.”

“But we have yet to settle on an agreement--”

“There is nothing to settle. Do not make me force you,” she threatened.

“Go ahead. Try,” the oil in his posture and smile returned. “It would please me.”

Clearly, he was baiting her, but Selke didn’t have time to waste on this annoying bottom feeder. She needed to get out of here fast, and find Will and Terra. If that meant using her skills of suggestion to convince this sack of soggy corbs to let her go, then so be it. She wasn’t as telepathically strong as her sister, and didn’t devote as much time developing her skills growing up, but she was considered above average. She locked eyes with him and focused. “Keeping me here is a move worthy of morons. You’re not a moron. You know better than to--Ah!” 

A shooting pain stabbed into her right temple beneath her hair  and spidered throughout her entire brain . Her hand instantly slapped over the spot, directly on a small node connected to her skin. She tried to pull it off, but it sent a shock through her hand and her head, making her buckle from the pain. Her stomach turned from nausea. 

He folded his arms behind his back and grinned in satisfaction. “Do you like it? It’s a psionic suppressor. It suppresses the psyonic waves caused by the production of isetyline - a neurotransmitter Felorians create when actively using their telepathic abilities.”

“I know what isetyline is,” she growled, catching her breath and glaring up at him.

“Thank you for proving that it functions properly. I paid good money for that.” 

She clenched her teeth as the pain and nausea subsided. “I’ve never heard of this tech before.” 

“That’s because it was developed here by the colony’s security to keep any misbehaving Felorians who break the rules in check: any rule. Your people are not trusted here.” 

She straightened and stared him down. “What do you want?”

“Simply put, I need a Demonstrator.”

“For what?”

Mougru began to pace like a cat prowling in front of a caged mouse. “Your husband is currently in negotiations for a polarity node adapter for a tractor beam, correct?”

“How did you know what we came here for?”

“The man he’s buying it from will obtain that item from me.” Mougru loved dishing out tidbits of knowledge like food - just enough to keep her interested. “However, to spice things up, we made a bet. You see, if my Demonstrator - that would be you - wins in combat using the item, you earn the fleet’s location intelligence, and I get a stock of mimedic hydro beads at no charge - Masakan medical grade. Very hard to come by. But, Wedrey doesn’t get the part your husband needs.”

“And if I lose?”

“I give him the part free of charge,” he shuddered, “and I don’t get the beads. And you,” he leaned close to the barrier, “will find yourself warm and cozy in a Masakan Federation prison when I tell them I have captured you. They’ll reward me handsomely.”

She snorted in his face. “If you think I’m going to do anything for you, then you are a sad, deluded little man. I’ve gotten along just fine on my own for years. You can keep your map.” 

“Only a fool would pass up this opportunity to gain the upper hand on their enemy.” He removed a datadot from his pocket, extended the screen, and tapped on it, bringing up unseen details to Selke’s point of view. “I have outfitted the device to a plasma staff to be used as a weapon. In order to prove its functionality, it must be used against an opposing target. What you proved to me today is that you are the right one for the job - even though you are female. Your status as a hero is enough for me to consider you.” 

“Then consider me non-cooperative. Have fun losing the bet.”

“You have two children. I can empathize. I, myself, have a son. He’s back home on Gaumaron. He’ll be graduating from the Toqred school of business soon.”

“You must be proud,” her words were as dry as the desert planet of Parth.

“Oh, I am. As I’m sure you are proud of your offspring. They must be the joy of your life,”  Mougru fixed her with a scurrilous grin. “It would be a shame if their mother never came home.”

He held up a datadot with the screen extended to show a security feed of a small girl in a tank top, jacket, and dark pants, with chestnut colored long straight hair searching for a way out of a sealed room. The occasional flicker of blue light appeared in a flash whenever she touched the wall. 

A cold ball of horror burst through her chest. “Terra…” She whispered, “Where is she?”

“She is in custody by security.”

“Why?”

“When my associates approached her - to simply ask for your location, mind you -, she fired her weapon. The bind shot hit one of them in the chest. She broke the rule of discharging a weapon in a non designated area, so she is now awaiting punishment.”

“She is a child!”

“Security is extremely strict on this matter. We Gaumori set this rule into motion for a reason,” he stared her in the eye. “She broke the rule, and thus will receive the appointed punishment.” He examined the live surveillance feed. “She’s very small for a half Mik. I don’t think she’d survive.”

“What’s the punishment,” Selke risked. She didn’t want to know, but she needed the details of what she fought against.

This was his moment to finally give the main course of the feast. “The criminal,’” he placed a heavy accent on the damning word, “is placed within a sealed chamber where the oxygen is syphoned out until there’s just enough left to barely keep you alive. You’re only removed once you pass out. Depending on the person, this could take minutes. Some never fully recover from the lack of oxygen to the brain. I hear every second is torture.”

“They can’t do that--”

“I have negotiated for her life.” Mougru held up his hand, the yellowish lighting making the pale yellow tints of his skin more jaundiced. “If you are victorious in the demonstration, then she will be set free, completely unharmed, and returned to you.

“However, should you fail, we get to see just how resilient she is. The Mik are known for being hardy. Here’s hoping she inherited that trait from her father.” 

The air suddenly became like ice. 

He checked the time. “The demonstration begins in thirty minutes. I suggest you prepare.” The door slid smoothly closed behind him.

“Mougru!” She breathed hard, running her hands through her hair, and rammed her fist against the wall. 

Though Yune’s mind was the easiest for her to connect to due to their prior situation where she remained in constant contact with him for four solid days, it still took her a good deal of focus. Pushing aside the fact that his would cause pain, she tried out of desperation.  _ Yune, hear me. Yune-- _ “Ah!” The device sent a spark of pain through her head again. Its fingers reached into the depths of her mind and forced her to sit on the hard, cold bench along the back wall to wait for it to pass. 

She couldn’t even get one emergency message through. Selke was truly cut off. 

 

****

“So, as you can see, the usage of the graviton particle polarity node goes beyond your simple need to repel troublesome asteroids the deflector can’t handle,” Wedrey stood beside a screen showing the schematic of the tractor beam update part. “For you see, it’s other, more valuable usage is as a--”

Yune stared at the screen, or rather through it. He had blanked out a couple of minutes ago when he thought he’d heard Selke’s voice break through the information dump. It was strong enough to force Wedrey’s explanations to a dim, muffled background noise. The words themselves were basic, but it was the strong urgency they carried that unnerved him.

Wedrey lowered his head slightly, as his client reclined in a comfortable chair staring off into space. He tested the attention of the Mik. “It also makes potato wedges and summons a five piece band.”

“Great. I like band wedgies,” he mumbled. 

The Gaumori huffed in irritation. “Mister Darrak, have you heard a word I’ve said in the past five minutes?”

That snapped him out of it. “Huh? Uh, yeah. Every minute detail.” He must have imagined it. Selke wouldn’t initiate that form of contact with an extremely good reason. She rarely used her telepathic skills at all. Her forte was in sensing the moods of others and using that to formulate a plan of action. “I think I know everything I need to about the polarity node. I’m ready to negotiate a price.”

“I would be happy to, in fact, I’m sure we can quickly come to a profitable agreement for both of us. However, I cannot, with a clean conscience, let you purchase the goods without seeing them in action first. Per standard protocol, I’ve arranged for a demonstration in Arena Five in thirty minutes.”

“That’s ok. That won’t be--” he was about to argue that it wasn’t necessary, but then recalled the time he’d taken an Onikiri seller at their word and ended up blowing up Rev’s old shop on the Karuus lunar colony. “You know, that sounds like a fantastic idea.”

“Excellent! I’m glad you agree,” Wedrey motioned toward the door to exit. “To make things interesting, my supplier and I made a small wager, and...well, I won’t bore you with the details, but it should make for an exciting match.”

“Oh, now you want to spare me the details. How thoughtful,” Yune quipped. 

The Gaumori either didn’t hear him, or didn’t show that the dry humor irked him in any way. “Tell me, Mister Darrak, are you a betting man?”

“Depends on the gamble.”

“As it should. You are undoubtedly a man of uncanny instincts,” he flattered his guest and bowed slightly as they left the negotiations area toward Arena Five on the other side of the asteroid. “I know this will be a demonstration you won’t want to miss.”

 

****

_ Where are they? Where they did go? They wouldn’t leave me.  _

_ Terra wouldn’t leave me.  _

_ Aunt Selke wouldn’t leave me.  _

_ Where are they? Terra? Terra!  _

His thoughts swirled in a tornado of emotions, running a chaotic maze that forced any logical thought aside. 

The central hub suddenly become cold, and massive, and the aliens became giants. Will backed up until he bumped into the railing and gripped the smooth metal in both hands. He couldn’t sense her anywhere. He felt like someone had tried to pull his limbs off and it left him raw. He didn’t realize her complete lack of presence would physically hurt this much. 

He hunched over, breathing hard through the mysterious pain.  _ Find her...find her...find her now!  _ an urge within him screamed. He shook his head to quiet it. If he could think clearly he could figure out a plan. Maybe go back to his uncle…

No, they’d said communications would be cut off, and he wasn’t allowed past the greeting hub. Still, they might make an exception in this case. Yune would know what to do. He always does. 

Will let go of the railing to run back to his uncle, but stopped. 

Every time he felt overwhelmed and powerless, he went to Terra, then to Yune. His uncle always solved the problem. And that was the problem. 

He clenched his fists. This is exactly what he wanted to get away from: other people constantly coming to his rescue, and he - never able to fight for himself. 

His teeth grit together hard. No. He would find Terra on his own. He would apologize to her, and then they would find their aunt together. 

If he focused on his connection to her, he might be able to locate her like he always could on the Horizon, or at Strafsend. They’d been separated to neighboring valleys back on Masaka before, but not for more than a few minutes. Their screams always drove the scientists to bring them back together. The valleys were only a mile apart. He was later told they wouldn’t be separated that far again until after phase six completed. 

This asteroid easily eclipsed that distance. But how could he find her on an unfamiliar rock this massive? She could be anywhere. And he had no idea if their link had a distance limit.

Will concentrated. A warm glow of energy in his chest beat with his own pulse. He focused on the familiar sense it belonged to. 

His eyes darted from right to left as he scanned every direction. A pull like two opposing magnetic ends wavered in and out until he narrowed it down. He treated it the same way he would a radio frequency to detect the code buried in the noise. He fine tuned it until it formed a wavelength that resonated like a plucked guitar string. 

It led toward the wide exit. He moved forward until an intrusive thought broke through: sure, this was the direction she’d gone, but what if someone had taken her off the colony? 

His concentration shattered.

He might never see her again. 

And for him, suffering that loss was a fate worse than torture.

_ No…. No no no nonononono-- _

Will’s feet shot him toward the exit before he could think. 

A gaumori stepped directly in his path on purpose.

The collision caused both to stumble, but his companion caught Will before he could reorient himself and held his arms to his sides. 

“Let me go!” he struggled. “Lemme go, you jerkwad, or I’ll--!”

“Or you’ll what?” 

“Or you’ll regret it! I’ll beat you up into next Tuesday!”  
“What’s a Tuesday?” The one holding him arched his brow bone and shrugged.

He struggled. “Where’s Terra?! Answer me!”

They exchanged confused glances. They assumed he was talking about the planet. 

Will’s urgency snapped. “What have you toad-faced creeps done with her?!” 

“Ah, the girl. So, that’s her name.” The leader didn’t know what a ‘toad’ was, but it didn’t sound like a compliment. “She is...helping us.” 

“Yeah right,” Will brushed the false reason away. “You’re lying!”

“How do you know? Did you sense it?” the Gaumori leaned closer, attempting to intimidate the small half Human and discern if his presumed felorian abilities were awakening.

“I don’t need powers to know you’re lying,” He stood tall. “I can smell it on you like this air. Or is that your breath?”

He scrunched up his nose. “You have a pair of gobleks on you for one so small.”

Will’s fist flared with energy sparking over his skin. 

To show his power in public broke their secondary rule, but rescuing his other half took priority over anything else. Altairan energy flowed within his arm to his hand and he felt the tips of his fingers tingle from its very familiar sense. “You asked for it.”

In a quick change of thought, he sent the power to his feet and kicked out at the alien’s kneecap. 

A flash of blue energy burst to life at the impact. 

The gaumori cried out and buckled, falling to the floor. “He has a weapon!” 

The crowd instantly gave the trio a wide berth. 

A warbling klaxon blared through the room, alerting everyone to a weapon’s discharge outside a designated zone. 

Will didn’t care. Irrational emotions controlled him. He powered up his foot again and smashed it down on his captor’s instep. 

The gaumori cried out at the energy that locked up his foot. 

Will spun out of his grip. Now, one more shot from each palm into their chests should keep them down. One from him, and one from--

His right hand met with air. Terra should have grabbed it, used him to power up her attack, and both should have struck down their enemies in twin zephyr balls. 

That minute miscalculation assuming she would instantly be where he needed her threw him off balance. 

The gaumori with the sore foot grabbed his arm and jammed a small device against the back of Will’s neck. 

Pain from the shock speared through his mind. His vision blurred and his hearing thickened.

At first, he slumped in the gaumori’s arms. He heard the discharge of a pulse pistol a second before the gaumori’s grip went lax. Both fell to the floor. 

Someone stood over him in warm-toned basic clothing with a faded pink cloth over their head. Their long, dusty maroon coat swept over him. Their hand swept outward in a circle as they spun too fast for him to catch their face. The room went eerily quiet.  

His vision failed, but he remained conscious long enough to feel someone lifting him into their arms, and then the motion of that person running. 

From there, he could only guess as to where the alien spirited him away.

 

****

Will woke up long enough to see support beams along the rock ceiling passing quickly by. The windowless, solid structure gave him a sense of claustrophobia. He never knew how precious seeing the stars from the viewports of the Horizon were to him. He would never take them for granted again. 

When he awoke once more, the ceiling had changed to a solid eggshell color, and the noise of the halls had disappeared. The headache returned. 

He was lying on someone’s sofa in a neat, clean room of Masakan design. A skinny door lead out to the street with one window set beside it showing a view of a residential area. They were old crew quarters turned into homes. Some were expanded into to create larger living areas, and a few of the exteriors were painted to give them a colorful feel of life. 

The home’s open-plan layout hid perfectly within the walls, lending no one to believe the single door opened to a space this large. The resident had decorated the room with seating, an entertainment viewer against the far wall, a few ornamentations, a vase of purple, red, cream, gold, and blue lavender stems on a table by the door, and a couple of lamps. A long, horizontal window offered a view of the asteroid field. Ships sailed smoothly by toward the lower level docking bays. 

Other various colorful flowers dotted the room. Their combined aromas vastly improved the pungent atmosphere, and their hues brightened the space. 

The ceiling wasn’t more than eight feet high. An Anulean would feel cramped in here. Regardless, it had a homey feel.

Terra… He had to find her. 

He sat up and swung his legs over the side of the couch, and that’s when he saw his captor. 

She moved out of the kitchen with a bowl of steaming soup in her hands and set it on the slim table in front of the seating area. 

Will held out his hand in defense. “Where am I? Who are you? Where’s Terra? Tell me, or I’ll--!”

“First of all, there will be no violence in this house,” she gently lowered his hand.

The intense light in this woman’s blue eyes seemed to stare through him, but he didn’t feel threatened by it. She looked to be in her late twenties by galactic time.

She gestured to the bowl of soup. “Eat. It’ll help get rid of your headache.”

Even though it was a solid order, her voice remained calm. The urge to obey kept him from fighting back. His head felt like someone had stuffed it full of puffer fluff. “What’s in it?”

“Kreeble, some vegetables, a few spices… I assure you, it’s delicious. It was my mother’s recipe. Go on. Eat. Unless you like having a headache.”

Once more, her disarming tone moved straight to the center of his mind, muddied his own reactions, and replaced it with the action she desired. Her will had somehow overridden his to rebel. He slowly picked up the bowl, and began to eat. The whole time, he wondered why he couldn’t stop himself from obeying her. As she’d claimed, his headache faded away.

Satisfied, she went to the kitchen to pour herself her own bowl and sat back down.  “Trying to take on two full grown Gaumori by yourself in a public area. You must be very brave, or very stupid.”

“Probably both.” He set the spoon into the bowl, halfway empty. “This was good, but I have to find Terra. Thanks for ….thanks.” He still didn’t want to admit that someone else - once more - had to come to his rescue. 

He set the bowl down, hurried to the door, and tapped on the panel multiple times, but it buzzed at him. She had locked him in. 

She consoled his worries. “It’s more to keep people out than to keep you in. You’re safe here.”

“Where’s my sister? And where’s my aunt?” He called the Altairan energy to the ready once more, though kept it under the surface of his skin. “Tell me,” though his bravery faltered as his hand trembled. He felt off balance, like he was standing slightly outside himself half awake, “Please. I have to find them.”

She moved to a drawer in a sleek credenza against the wall and removed a small item from it. “I saw two Gaumori take the girl, and three more take your aunt. They were fast, using the same method to abduct you,” she returned, holding out her open hand with the item within. “It’s a stun pin. It uses a weak plasma burst set to a frequency to disrupt consciousness for a brief period of time. It’s quick, stealthy, and perfect for removing problems from public areas. However, it’s not painless, as you’ve discovered. The colony’s security forces love this thing.”

When he realized she was offering it to him to examine, he took it. He wasn’t prepared for her to walk away and leave it in his possession. “That’s why no one thought there was a problem. She probably looked like she was asleep.” He closed his fist around it, wanting to crush it with the guilt weighing heavy on his soul. 

The woman paused and glanced back. “She’s not your sister, is she.”

“Yes, she is--”

She cut him off, “you have the soul of an adventurer, William Kade, but you’re a terrible liar.”

He eyed her suspiciously. “How did you know my name?”

“It’s written on your underwear,” she gave the answer as cool as a spring breeze. 

For a strong moment, he looked horrified that his underwear was visible while he’d been sent to lala land. 

She chuckled. “I’m joking. Though by your expression I hit on a truth. An odd, decidedly Human thing to do, but cute.” 

“Great. Glad to know you find my embarrassment funny.” He held out his hand to offer the stun pin back, but she ignored it. Feeling awkward, he put it in his jacket pocket, assuming he was meant to keep it. “Listen, thanks for your help back there, but I’m fine from here on my own.”

“Are you?”

He wasn’t, but he still couldn’t admit it to himself. “Yes. I don’t need help. I’ll find Terra and my aunt on my own.” He tapped repeatedly on the locked door panel.

“The code is 24478,” she gently offered. 

He hesitated, then entered the code. The door slid open. He was about to cross the threshold when her voice caught him. 

“Tell me how you expect to find her when you, yourself are lost?”

His hand rested on the doorframe when he looked back. “I…I’ll just...” He wanted to tell her that he could sense when Terra was around. Whenever she stood next to him, he felt complete. But he couldn’t pinpoint her direction here. He had no idea where to start.

She hummed softly to herself, “I thought so. Well,” she moved into the kitchen off to her right to put away the rest of the soup, “if you want to search the whole station, be my guest, but you might have better luck if you fix that knot of terror in your chest first.”

Curious now, he wandered back inside and peeked into the kitchen. Something within him gave him an odd feeling about her, though he wasn’t afraid of it. More like, he wanted to know why. 

She moved past him to the living room and faced the window, watching the ships drift by. The next few seconds would dictate the outcome of their future on this asteroid. “In or out. Make up your mind, but close the door whatever you decide. You’ll let flies in.”

Will glanced to his feet, running the options over and over in his head, and turned around. 

She heard the ‘sshh’ of the sliding door close, though didn’t need to look at him to know his response. 

Will faced her down from the edge of the living area. “Only my first initial and last name are written on my underwear. And it’s in a language I’m pretty sure no one here knows how to read. Who are you?”

The woman unwrapped the faded pink cloth from her head. Shoulder length, straight dark blond hair fell from its confines. The fabric draped in her hand to dust the floor at her booted feet as she met his gaze.

His mouth gaped open at the four very distinct, perfectly spaced, slightly darker spots in a line of four down the center of her forehead. “You’re Felorian.”

“That’s right,” she folded up the cloth and tucked it into her belt. “So you should know it’s useless to lie to one.”

He couldn’t win here. From now on, he had to be extremely selective in his answers so as not to give away his true identity. The faster he could find Terra, the faster they could all get off this cursed space nugget. “Why were you wearing that?”

“The Gaumori think all felorians will cheat and scam everyone we interact with because they think we have an unfair advantage. They don’t trust any of us who aren’t contracted to work for one of their own. They fail to see they do that themselves. I guess they want to ‘corner the market.’  Honestly, there aren’t many felorians here. It stinks, and to us, it’s like being constantly neck deep in emotional sludge.” 

He took a step forward. “Aunt Selke can’t do that - know someone’s name without asking them. So, you read my mind?” The answer he truly wanted - did she know his origins - couldn’t find a voice, but his curiosity won out. “What...what else do you know?”

“Nothing consequential at this time,” she smiled.

Despite her reassurance, he couldn’t let his guard down. “When you showed up, you did something to everyone. What did you do?”

“I blurred our faces in their minds so that anyone who spoke to security wouldn’t be able to identify us. It alters one’s perception within immediate short term memory.”

“Cool. Like a Jedi mind trick?”

“A what?”

“...Nevermind,” any further explanation would give him away as being Terran. “Can all felorians do that?”

“Most can’t. It’s a very specific skill not many have the patience to master.” She held out her hand. 

Will glanced to it, then back. “What are you doing?”

“This is a common human greeting, is it not? My name is Meora Alkana. Nice to meet you.” The way she said it made it sound rehearsed. Then again, he didn’t know what a traditional Felorian greeting was. He didn’t know much about his aunt or her people at all. 

He tentatively shook her hand. “You’re kinda weird.”

“Says the boy who writes his name in his underwear like he’ll forget it,” she headed to a room off to Will’s right out of sight. “I need to put on something more comfortable if we’re going to rescue your sister-not-sister..”

“Fine,” he admitted, ”she’s not my sister, but she is my best friend.”

The woman raised her voice so he could hear her as she changed. “That’s not what I meant. She is beyond a sibling, friendship, or a love. Calling her your sister is too weak a word. ‘Twin’ is closer, isn’t it?”

He agreed without thinking about it.

“But it’s still not accurate enough. She is a part of you. What you are to each other is so unique that is has no title in your language.”

She hit it on the head. No one in the Strafsend lab, or on the Horizon had a name for their relationship, and no one fully understood it. They themselves didn’t even understand it.

He looked out the window by the door. He could see both streets down the way they came, and to their right, making this a perfect place to see anyone approaching from either direction. Strategically, Meora lived in a perfect location - no one could sneak up on her. A trio of Tagron security officers in green and black uniforms walked by laughing about the punchline of an unheard joke. “You said they have her. Where? Do you know who they are? Can you take me to her?”

“I don’t know, and I can’t. I’m sorry. I only managed to get to you.”  Meora said in regret as she walked out and put the wrap back on to conceal her forehead. She sent her next question to him gently. “Why did she run from you?”

“You can’t tell,” he shot back with derision. 

She didn’t answer.

A thick silence filled the room. He clenched his fists. “I pushed her away,” he uttered, staring out the window. “I told her I didn’t need her.” His core ached from the cold of not having her around, and heavy guilt. “I just wanted to…”

“To prove that you could handle any situation on your own,” she offered. Though this boy of only ten galactic years was essentially a young child, he held more weight within him than she’d felt within adults from various species. 

He nodded. “I’m so freakin’ dumb. And now she’s been kidnapped and in danger, and my aunt is gone, and I’m here eating soup with a Jedi.”

“You know that not even the greatest heroes endure their adventures alone, right?”

Will’s eyes flicked up to her. 

She took the bowl from the table and returned it to the kitchen. “It’s not wrong to believe you’re capable of doing things on your own. In fact, for those like you, being alone is part of life. It’s a part of your reality.” 

Will’s heart jumped into his throat. She must have scanned him, found the anomalous reading where his Terran markers should be, but somehow surmised he was part of the One Thousand. 

Saying anything would make matters worse. He wouldn’t confirm or deny any claim she made. 

“But, it doesn’t mean you have to isolate yourself from those who love you.”

He pressed his palm to his head, forcing back the power screaming within him to find Terra. “Please. Find her. You can use your skills. You can find her.”

She shook her head. “Only you can do that. This is a task that falls to you, and you alone, William.” 

“But, what if she’s been taken off the asteroid, or what if she’s hurt, or what if someone--”

Meora placed her finger against his lips to silence him. “First, stop saying those words. They will only destroy you. Second,” she looked down at him, “you need to calm that voice blocking your judgement. I know you are in a great deal of pain. Whatever connection you have with Terra is scrambled because of your emotions.” She stared into his eyes and said seriously, “Find the code within the noise.”

Of all the analogies she could make, how did she know to choose the task he excelled at, trained by his father? 

She moved away to grab a shoulder bag hanging from a hook by the door. 

“We should tell my uncle what happened. He’s in negotiations, but--”

“If he’s in negotiations, he’s out of the loop. No one can tell him anything until he’s out.”

“But this has to be an exception, right?”

“The only exception is if there’s a Xox attack, and that’s never happened here.”

He buzzed his lips in frustration. Yune had said this place wasn’t on the Xox’ radar. It wasn’t important enough for them to bother with despite the weapons coming in and out of it on a constant basis, which was why they came here. 

“All right. Let’s go.”

When he finally noticed her outfit, his train of thought veered over a cliff at one highly out of place element to her almost mercenary-esque earth-toned wardrobe. He pointed at her feet. “Where did you get those?” 

She wiggled her toes within a pair of dirty-white sneakers. The hem of her dark brown pants brushed around the heel where a red swoosh decore swept upward toward the toe and wrapped around on both sides. “From a rare item novelty shop on the other side of the station. These were insanely overpriced, but worth it. Very different, too. I love them. They’re comfortable.”

He couldn’t hide an amused laugh. What were the odds that this would happen here. He was in space probably thousands of lightyears from Earth, surrounded by aliens, about to search for his best friend on a colony with a telepath who can alter perception, and she chose this exact moment to wear a pair of Nikes. They somehow followed him from Earth. 

“Is something wrong?”

“You don’t know what those are?” he laughed. 

“Yes. They’re comfortable,” she answered in all honesty.

“My mom used to wear ones like that all the time.” This entire scene pushed away the icy terror bombarding him ever since he noticed Terra missing. 

“Then she has excellent taste.” Good. His mirth was helping to clear that knot within him. She could sense it breaking apart, and the flow of energy finding its way through again. 

His laughter waned at the memory off Molly, his mother, shuffling through the old farm house with a laundry basket in her arms and telling him to bring down his dirty clothes. Sometimes he would put on her worn shoes when he was younger, though they were way too big for his tiny feet. He took a deep breath to silence the memory back where it came from and opened the door.  “So, where do we start looking?”

“That’s up to you.” She let the conversation about her favorite shoes go, left the house and locked the door. “Let’s start walking and see what happens.” 

He lingered behind. Even with this bit of humor, he still didn’t like depending on someone else to save him, and now his other half. 

“Are you coming?

“Yeah.” He caught up to her. 

She tapped on his head, “Keep your mind open.”

He took a deep breath and focused on the energy in his core. It tugged to his right. Without missing a beat, he took the next corner, then the next few turns and up a level, but stopped when it emptied into a circular hub with some sadly-kept shrubs in the center. Multiple branching halls split from it like crepuscular rays. Groups of people ambled through, including a few humanoid robots following their owners, or rolling, striding, or walking through on preprogrammed tasks.  
It seemed the gaumori took advantage of the past one-hundred years to expand beyond the core Masakan structure to encompass the entire rock. 

Will was one tiny human alone in an asteroid colony the size of Manhattan looking for another tiny human lost in the labyrinth. 

Meora, sensing his sudden doubt, placed her hand on his shoulder reassuringly.  

He glanced up to her briefly, then to the crowd and tightened his jaw. He could do this. He could find her. 

A Ratlid clad in strips of cloth hanging from his shirt as a fashion statement slopped by with his large webbed feet and slurped down whole a greenish, wriggling fish-like aquatic creature from a bowl in his hands. It was alien take-out, apparently. 

Will was forced to stop, for the Ratlid didn’t care who’s path he...she...it? hindered. He scrunched up his nose in disgust. “Uch. That’s nice.”  

  
  


* * * *

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #22: Items from Terra.  
> For centuries, aliens have been visiting Earth (Terra) and going home with souveneirs. Since Terrans were still a pre-FLT race, anything taken from that planet was sold at a high cost among those who still used currency. Ever since the Xox attacked, and the 1,000 children were taken away, the value of items from Terra instantly spiked. Things from bobble heads to hubcaps sold at engorged prices. 
> 
> The parallels between Masakan, Mik, and Kes advancements were close enough that small alterations to a common item could be falsly claimed as hailing from Terra. Now with the 1,000 scattered across the known galaxy, those selling the items sometimes offered them as authentic personal belongings of one of the 1,000, complete with a fake certificate of authenticity. With those Terran children having a celebrity-like status, the more naive buyers would fall for their scams. 
> 
> Although, sometimes they weren't scams. 
> 
> The Crocs Meora wears are true Terran shoes. She did purchase them from the odds and ends shop, and was told they were from one of the 1,000. She didn't buy the claim. Her choice to wear them at that moment wasn't a random decision. She knew that the Terran she would encounter would need them - or rather what they represented to him - in order to move forward. 
> 
> Honestly, she thinks they're hideous, but they do feel like walking across her beloved moss meadow on Feloria.
> 
> This is also an alternate reality slightly off our own, so even though Crocs were't invented until 2002 in our reality, they were invented in the mid 90's in this one. The fact that by 1999, we had the workings of an intersystem ship should be a dead giveaway that this is an alternate earth.


	23. All the Pieces

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Selke is forced to compete in a weapons demonstration for Terra's life against Togoran, the station's Erlox champion. Yune discovers he's a pawn in a plan of revenge against Selke for the destruction of a Gaumori ship in a Xox attack 9 years ago, and Will must find his twin before it's too late.

###  **Chapter 23 - All the Pieces**

 

A single announcement tone sounded throughout the small hub, catching everyone’s attention - well, everyone who bothered to care. A few aliens paused in their activities to look up at a ring of small screens situated at the curve of the medium-height ceiling. Though most carried on through the annoyance, it definitely caught the attention of the small Terran.

The screen switched over from the constant round of soundless ads that had been playing the whole time to generic adventure intro sting as the camera drone paned around a spherical battle chamber large enough for two Horizons to sit side by side. Windows with angled beam supports creating interlocking equilateral triangles surrounded the upper level of the three story high bubble. It connected to six identical arenas to create a hexagon shape at the apex of the asteroid within a central circular hub.

A man’s tenor announcer voice played over the one-shot. “Attention citizens of Station Twenty-Three! An epic showdown between two formidable Demonstrators is about to begin in Arena Five!”

Pictures of the two Demonstrators flashed up on the screen in an eye-catching A ‘vs’ B format with their names in bold Gaumorian beneath them. One was a large alien man who looked to be part rock, part biological creature with a single top knot on his head over beady scowling black eyes. His physic gave the impression that he could break a normal person in half with one bulging-muscled meaty man canon. And the other…

Will’s jaw hit the floor, “That’s aunt Selke!”

The pictures swept out of frame to be replaced with action clips of past battles. The pre recorded voice over continued. “Fun for the whole family! Come place your bets and bring the kids! Children under five galactic years get a free pickled bekbek,” the cheery voice over enticed the listeners with an image of a happy Gaumori child licking a purple and pink swirled, cold sugary treat in a cookie cone. “Get your tickets at any authorized weapons demonstration distributor now! The Demonstration will begin in twenty minutes!”

A much more subdued fast-talking disclaimer said, “Station Twenty-Three council members are not held responsible for any injuries and/or deaths sustained during a demonstration, and will not cover medical bills. All rights to arbitrate are forfeit upon purchase of a ticket, as this indicates a willful understanding of the risks. Friends and family of arena employees are exempt from any contests or giveaways. Viewer discretion is advised.”

The screen returned to a silent commercial for some kind of Masakan chewing gum marketed to teenagers.

“Well,” Meora stuffed her hands in her pockets, “found your aunt.”

“We have to go now!” He started running straight ahead, but Meora caught his arm.

“Whoa, hold on. You can’t just barge in there.”

“Why not?” He yanked away from her grip. “They’re gonna make her fight! Terra might be there. I have to save them.”

“Do you have money for a ticket?”

An invisible wall burst through his determination. He shook his head with dismay. The Masakan federation didn’t use it, and he and Terra never had a need for it. They spent most of their time in space anyway. Whenever they would dock somewhere, Yune or Selke would pay for whatever they needed, even though both kids had begged to have some money of their own to buy what they wanted. He’d hassle his uncle when they got home about an allowance - if only to avoid situations like this.

“They won’t let you in without one. Unless you want to break in through the ceiling, there’s no other way that isn’t heavily guarded.”

The universe basically gave him the exact coordinates of his aunt and possibly Terra, but due to the capitalist nature of the Gaumori, he couldn’t do anything about it. His stubborn streak kicked in. “I don’t care. I have to get into that arena.” He started forward again.

“Will, Arena Five is that way,” Meora gestured to the left.

Will’s eyes darted between the path to his aunt, and straight ahead where the Altair energy pulled him. If he could split himself in half and run both ways, he could. Which path should he take? Should he go try to get to his aunt, or keep following this sense hopefully leading him to Terra? He felt conflicted and torn.

The struggle emanating from him was stronger than anything from him before. And it threw her off guard. Yes, he loved them both a great deal, but for the first time, something different and ancient came through. It was the same sense she had only felt once in her life when she connected with the Eye of Shora before coming here, but would never forget it. There was more going on with him than she initially knew, and it was powerful. It was also juvenile at the same time - learning and experiencing life along with him.  No...it _was_ him. And he couldn’t exist without it. If her senses were correct, the same was true for his other half.

“There’s nothing we can do about your aunt right now. We have twenty minutes before the demonstration starts. Your priority is your twin.”

He nodded and although he didn’t want to choose between them, he kept walking toward Terra’s sense. Hopefully his aunt would forgive him.

Fifteen minutes later, their trek through the station brought them to an upper level docking platform bubbled in by an atmosphere shield. Ships could enter and leave without the need for the barrier to be lowered.

The spark of energy within his chest flared. “She’s over there,” he pointed to a trio of personal ships clustered to the right. One of them held the most important person to him in the universe. He started forward, but Meora grabbed his shoulder and pulled him to the side around a corner out of sight. “What are you doing? Let’s go.”

“I’ve seen that center ship before. It’s owned by a Gaumori trader named Mougru. He cornered me in this bay shortly after I arrived two months ago propositioning me to use my talents for his own gain. When I refused, he then asked me questions about Selke.”

“Why would he ask you about her? Do you know her?”

She shook her head. “Only by name. Some members of the Kellnaris family were part of the Ai Hiri for a long time.”

“The what?”

“Ask your aunt to explain it.” Although her entire being screamed to protect him even further than she already swore to do, this split needed to happen for this lesson to be learned. “I’ll go after her. You get your twin.”

“Alone?” He’d accepted that he could eventually save her, but that acceptance came with assuming Meora would be at his side.

“You did say you wanted to prove you could handle any situation by yourself,” she smirked. “Now’s your chance.”

He wasn’t asuaged by the lightheartedness. “Yeah, but, what if those guys have guns? I don’t know if I can.”

“What did I say about ‘what if?’. There’s always more than one way to solve a problem like this, and you have the tools to do it. You’ll figure it out.”

“How do I do this without her? I’ve always had her.”

She rested her hand over his heart and spoke with warm confidence, “You still do.” She could sense the other point of light within him as clear as the sun in this solar system. Her words carried by her skill to his mind to bolster his courage to go on alone. It wasn’t just a tactic to strengthen him, she spoke the truth.

“Here,” she handed him a com node from her shoulder bag. “Call me when you find her.” She straightened. “Now go. And be careful,” she cautioned, and hurried off with a group of people heading for the elevators to the arenas a few levels up at the peak of the asteroid.

Will faced down the hallway in the opposite direction that would open up into the docking platform, took a deep breath, and clenched his fists. He had to trust the rescue of his aunt to this woman who wasn’t more than a stranger twenty minutes ago.

Will entered the docking platform and immediately took shelter behind a stack of crates. The barrage of information to his senses briefly overloaded his mind. Everything became distorted. Everyone in the station grew taller, their arms grew lanky and their bodies morphed into demons of his imagination. His mind tried to make sense of the unfamiliar environment, so it focused on the elements that created the highest threat level and amplified them: arms, hands, weapons, body mass, teeth, and dark colors. It all towered over him and he felt as small as a forgotten cup of to-go Darkmatter coffee left by Yune on the bridge.

Will scrunched his eyes shut and repeated ‘it’s not real’ a few times, then opened them. The nightmarish illusion his frantic mind created diminished, but didn’t disappear. He could maneuver through this world on his own and make sense of it as he went along.

He was intelligent enough to knew he had to remain calm. As long as he could sense Terra, he could maintain that calm and think clearly.

“I’m not a baby. I’m not a monster. I’m a hero.” Filled with new hype to his confidence, he stuck the com node behind his right ear and strode forward. The Altair energy - the frequency - within his chest tightened back into a cord he could feel, and with determination, he broke into a run into the yellow-tinged light of the docking bay to rescue his twin sister.

Alone.

 

****

Selke stared down a pair of wide, thick, industrial gray double shield doors that closed off the sounds of the arena beyond.

Part of the fun for spectators of a Demonstration was to have the weapons in question already out on the field for the champions to find.

The living mountain standing next to her, also facing the doors, cracked his neck. As a general rule, both combatants could be in same area, since any physical violence from either would result in the cancelation of the demonstration, a heavy penalty placed on the partnership holding the contract of the champion, and any incentive to participate in the demonstration would be permanently revoked - meaning it couldn’t be offered again in a future related or unrelated match.

Most Demonstrators held their tempers, though one or two had given in from time to time to their need to beat down their competition - usually over insults of their mother.

She glanced up at the Erlox who could stare eye to eye with a normal sized Anulean and pick them up. He kept his piercing, solid-black-eyed glare on the doors as if his will power alone could force them open, twist them into an knotted pastry shape, and toss them out into space. Then again, this guy might not be so bad, and quite possibly in a situation similar to hers. If she could get him to talk, she might find out his story, and maybe a weakness to exploit on the field. But mostly it was to break the tension as tight as tanning leather. “So, come here often?”

The rock giant slowly slid his steely, unblinking gaze down to her with an equally slow turn of his thick neck - if he had one. He seemed to be all face and shoulders.

If his stare had been a blade, he would have sliced her into twenty separate pieces. They held an awkward silence for three seconds before he ignored her completely in favor of the door.

She cleared her throat and looked away. Unfortunately, her attempt only thickened the atmosphere. This would be the last time she’d try her husband’s tactic of disarming charm. “I don’t know how Yune does it,” she mumbled under her breath.

“Yune?” the man’s rumbling voice vibrated through his rock-like exterior. “Yune Darrak?”

She regarded him with severe caution. What did he do this time, and why did this meat behemoth know about him?

He took her silence as an affirmative and hummed low as he faced the door once more. “Yune Darrak,” his voice tipped down in resolution, as though he had made an important decision.

What had her husband been up to after he made off with the Horizon? His series of solo adventures impacted people who remembered his name - and probably not in a good way. She suddenly felt like cornered prey. “Dammit, Yune.”

Once they got out of this, she would lock him in the holding cell and keep him there until he spilled every last story of his wanderings after he took off with the Horizon. All she had to do was win to save Terra’s life, get the map as a bonus, and then say good riddance to this putrid rock forever.

A great ‘clank’ from the servos released the thick, solid lock, and the doors slowly pulled open. Light poured in through the widening crack like it couldn’t escape the arena fast enough.

. Selke took a deep breath, let it out with her tension, and walked into the arena side by side with the Erlox.

The irridesteel dome covered the entire circular battle ground surrounded by seats. Metal bars curved to meet in the center, cutting the clear surface into long triangular slices. The ground itself was part of the asteroid with jagged rocks spearing up from the ground like wicked claws: some shorter than herself, and some as tall as the Horizon. The weapon she needed was placed at the far end. Unfortunately, she had no idea what her opponent would use against her, so formulating a plan beyond ‘dodge everything’ at this juncture would be useless.

She glanced up at the crowd going wild to music playing from high-roving drones to hype up the audience. Although it wasn’t a full house, and there were large gaps in the stands, the crowd made up for it in ruckus cheers and boos. By the excitement level, the people here didn’t have much in the way of entertainment, so demonstrations were high on the list. Every once in a while, she caught a slur about felorians drift from one of the haters of her race.

At the top of the stands on one side perched a series of VIP booths. One of them contained the figures of two Gaurmori and one human.

 

* * * *

Yune kept his back to the arena as he accepted a beverage from Wedrey and took a sip of the sunset orange liquid out of courtesy. He was invited to take a seat in front of the wide protective irradesteel window that would protect them from any flying debris or weapons fire.

“I think you’ll find the champions highly capable of providing quality entertainment,” Wedrey kept up the salesman demeanor.

“I just care that the part works, Wedrey. There’s no need for all this.”

“Oh, but there is,” he remained standing.

Yune turned as the door slid open and Mougru along with one of his hired hands walked in. He set the drink down and stood. “What is he doing here?”

“Nice to see you again, Yune Darrak,” Mougru’s words slithered through the room. “Sorry our run-in in hall was...abrasive.”

“This is your partner?” Yune gestured to the newcomer.

“For this particular venture, yes,” Wedrey admitted. “He offered me not only the part at no charge to sell for as I wish, but also revenge.”

“For what?”

The smooth, slick, oily smile he’d worn since the negotiations began turned a cold chill of revenge. “For the deaths of his wife, and my brother.”

The manner in which the businessman uttered that one damning sentence sent Yune’s ‘danger’ meter to high.

“You might want to see exactly who is testing the technology you require,” Wedrey gestured to the window.

Yune stepped up to the window just as the two combatants reached the center of the arena and looked up at the crowd. His breath caught in his throat. “Selke…” He spun on the two, who grinned at his clear fear for her life. “What’s going on here? What does she have to do with this?”

“Everything,” Mougru growled. “My wife was on a ship being escorted home by his brother when they encountered a Xox scar near the ice rings of Kedrin.”

“That’s close to the edge of their territory,” Yune said. “No one in their right mind goes there without a reason. What was the ship doing there?”

“Ask your wife what she was doing there instead!” Wedrey pointed an accusatory finger at the demonstrators below. “She lured the battle cruiser toward that vessel, and used it as a distraction so she could escape. Both ships were destroyed. Only the Phummon survived in an escape pod.”

Yune grit his teeth. A Phummon was their form of a captain. The Mik considered a captain abandoning their crew to die to be unforgivable. He cared little about that now, only about their accusations toward his long-time trusted friend.

Mougru took over once his companion’s fake smile turned to a truthful snarl. “His report to the Conglomerate is how we know the Taphela was responsible for the deaths of thirty crewmen and ten civilians.”

“Once we discovered that the Regents were after the Horizon, we surmised she’d landed back in business with you. So, we kept that information to ourselves rather than do the more . Unfortunately, we had no way to track you,” Wedrey cursed. “Fortunately, the gods smiled on us when you came here. The fact that she was indeed with you allowed us to finally put our plan in motion. Had she not been with you, we would have questioned you for her whereabouts. We didn’t realize you had bound your life to her. Convenient for us.”

Words escaped Yune for a moment. “You gotta be kidding me. Your entire plan was based on luck?”

“Not only luck, but a special qualdreg up our sleeves,” Mougru clasped his hands greedily. “A Felorian told us Kellnaris would be coming here. We took a risk and placed our trust in that premonition.” He grinned. “It paid off.”

“And now we’ll get the revenge we’ve been long denied for nine agonizing years,” Wedrey reveled in their victory.

“Oh. Ok. I get it.” Yune’s weapon was drawn from his thigh holster and trained on Wedrey with the sight between his small, gold eyes. “How about you stop this farce immediately, and maybe I won’t turn your skull into a sponge.”

Both blinked at him, though Wedrey spoke. “Huh?”

Yune raised an eyebrow in disbelief that he had to explain what he thought was a witty analogy. “A sponge. It’s...a sponge has holes in it. It’s porous. I’m gonna turn your head into a -- ya know what, nevermind.” He tightened his aim and powered up the weapon. “Stop this demonstration now.”

“It can’t be stopped,” Wedrey said. “Once a demonstration is underway, it must find resolution on its own.”

“The deal is off!” His heart began to race. He knew what Selke was facing, because the last time he was here, he faced it himself. “Forcing her to fight gains you nothing.”

“I don’t think you recognize the gravity of this situation, Darrak.” Mougru explained, spreading his hands out. “It’s not solely about the part. If Kellnaris loses, she’ll be handed over to the Regents. If Togoran loses, the punishment wouldn’t be Togoran’s demise, but that… of Kellnaris’ daughter.”

Mougru called up the feed of Terra trying to escape her confines, and using Altairan energy.

Yune’s heart dropped.  “Terra…” Her power was clearly visible every time she hit the wall. Each impact left a score mark. He watched her brace her hands against her thighs as though catching her breath from a long run. Yet she straightened once more and kept trying to bust her way out. Though it was obvious, so far they hadn’t mentioned it. He prayed it stayed that way. They hadn’t mentioned Will, either. “If she’s hurt in any way, I will rip your hands off and shove them up his ass.”

“If our demonstrator loses, she will have the oxygen siphoned out of her holding cell for discharging her weapon in a non-designated area. A child likely wouldn't survive the process. Our bet is the only thing keeping her from punishment.” He kept the feed going. “To make things more interesting, we’ve told Kellnaris that if she loses, her daughter’s fate is sealed. Either way, Selke Kellnaris will suffer. She stole something precious from us, so we will steal something precious from her.”

“Fire your weapon, and security will be here in seconds to send you to the same punishment.”

Yune grudgingly lowered his gun and holstered it. 

Wedrey pulled out a drawer from a refrigerator from the VIP food stores and sat down to munch on a pickled bekbek in a cookie cone. “The demonstration is about to begin. Would you like one?”

He sent a laser-glare cutting through the business man’s head. If he could, he would shove that cone whole down the gaumori’s throat sideways and watch him choke.

Four small media drones buzzed round the arena, displaying their angles on the screens placed around the upper edge by the crew in the control booth. 

A booming male voice echoed around anthemic music meant to hype up the crowd. “Welcome one and all to a weapons demonstration like no other! We have a real treat for you today! Please welcome a new contender to our arena! You’ve heard of her in stories alone, now here she is in the flesh! Known for her trickery and cunning, the Traitor of Gaumaron, the felorian, Selke Kellnaris!”

A sea of jeers rained down from the crowd. Most of them were from Gaumori. 

Selke knew he’d emphasized the name of her people to pander to the racists.

The announcer milked this intro for all the traetium it was worth. “And now the one I know you all came to see. The Harbinger of Pain, the Bone Crusher himself, the reigning, undefeated champion, your favorite and mine, Togoran!” 

The crowd exploded with cheers, exuberantly waving flags and pumping fist-shaped, oversized, foamite gloves of Togoran’s massive hands into the air.

A hearty chant of the beloved champion's name reverberated through the arena. 

Togoran raised both arms and turned a slow circle to his adoring fans, though never cracked a smile. His head was already in the game, calculating how he would defeat a felorian. Of course, he’d noticed the psionic suppressor on her right temple. That meant the fight would be fair, without her cheating abilities. 

Someone in the crowd could barely be heard screaming, ‘I love you, Togoran!’

“Stop this fight, now!” Yune grabbed Mougru by his collar. 

“Even if it could be stopped, you’d have a riot on your hands. Look at this crowd! This is the most exciting match-up they’ve seen in weeks. The great Togoran battling the traitor, Kellnaris. Even if it could be stopped, we’re not stopping anything.”

“The station’s council will hear of this,” he threatened. 

“And who’s going to tell them? You?” the acid in his words dripped through. “You proclaimed the deal nullified. Therefore, you are no longer a client and officially expendable for interfering with gaumori business.”

“Then the contract is nullified.”

“Not enough time to file the paperwork for that. Besides, this fight isn’t. This falls outside the lines of our control.”

The announcer luxuriated in the cheers. “Demonstrators! Your weapons are situated at the north and sound ends of the arena! Obtain them, and engage in combat until surrender or death! Don’t forget to show off the finer points of your weapons! This is a demonstration after all! Let’s make it an exciting fight! Demonstrators, are you ready!”

Yune remembered at this point when he was in her place years ago saying, ‘I have some questions,’ and being cut off by the announcer. Selke, however, remained resolute and determined with a strength he wished he’d possessed back then.

“The battle begins…” two red lights lit one after the other in a vertical row, “Now!” A green light and tone flared at the bottom of the line.

Selke and Togoran broke into a hard run across the dirt toward their weapons. Selke veered around the tall pillars toward the plinth within a circle of boulders displaying a pulse staff with the repulsor gear rigged onto the end. The Erlox’s long, thick legs carried him faster, though not as nimbly.

It was up to his wife, now. The life of his adopted niece weighed on the outcome of this fight. Not to mention he had no idea what happened to Will.

That must be why she tried to contact him before. She tried to warn him, but somehow was unable to get through.

She had proven time and again to be an amicable fighter. Normally, he would have full faith that she would win. But now, that faith turned to dread…

Because he knew, with what lay on the line, that she would win.

 

* * * *

A high pitched whine carried along a rippling wave that cut a path straight for the pedestal.

Selke dove out of the way a second before it struck, carving out a hole through the center of the support. She grabbed the plasma staff from the stasis field keeping it suspended over the pedestal, and darted behind a thick, jagged rock. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. A hit like that would put a matching hole through her body.

“And it looks like Togoran is the first to reach his weapon,” the commentator relayed. “It’s a sonic resonator A5-Pelix 9. Primarily used in mining operations, but here we see it ingeniously applied to a pulse rifle. Let’s see if our champion gets a chance to use all the settings this baby has to offer.”

Selke exhaled and rolled her eyes. “Perfect.” She checked hers over. The repulsor polarity node affixed to the end of the staff wound take the energy from the ephypsan power cell and instead of processing it through the amplifier to create the burst, would redirect it in a radial pattern, pushing away anything it hit rather than destroying it. It did exactly what the name entailed.

Both hers and Togoran’s were long range weapons. “Double perfect.”  She had to figure out how to get in close enough to make his attacks useless.

Another sonic blast shaved off the top of the rock, forcing her to flee her hiding place.

Togoran took aim at her running close to the edge across the distance, She disappeared behind a cluster of brown, crudely generated pillars. With the way they were arranged, she could move between them without being seen.

He adjusted the setting on his weapon, took aim at the cluster, and fired. A green ring faintly lit the sonic wave. It brushed through the surfaces, illuminating her hiding place on a small screen set into the base of the pulse rifle.

“Looks like he’s using the radar setting to hone in on her location. That didn’t take long,” the announcer happily said, “Selke Kellnaris doesn’t stand much of a chance, now. Let’s hope we get some meat to this battle before it ends too quickly!”

“Just shut up,” she grumbled to herself. Selke ran forward to the next rock, only to be cut off by an explosion at her feet that sent dust and clods of dirt into the air. She turned a perfect 180 back to the pedestal, but another blast blocked her way. Two more to the right, and directly in front of her created a cage of raining debris.

Reacting on a quick idea, Selke aimed the plasma staff at the ground, and fired. The force shot her skyward. She fire one more burst at Togoran while in mid air, then a second burst at the ground when she began to fall. The second shot propelled her forward, where she landed atop a large, round bounder.

The first shot hit Togoran in the chest and slammed him into the wall. He dropped to his knees, reeling from the pain and disoriented.

“Oh!,” the commentator let the word hover for multiple counts. “A strike like that would have put a Human out of their misery. He’ll be feeling that one in the morning.”

She held up the gun and smirked as she tossed it from hand to hand. “Hm. Not bad.” She leaped from the boulder in time to avoid an impact fired by the recovering Erlox.

Togoran got to his feet, wobbled slightly, but ground his teeth. This match wouldn’t be so easy. “Good. A challenge.” He fired four consecutive shots at the spires around Selke.

Shards of the reformed asteroid rained down around her. A rock sliced her right upper arm, drawing a line of blood. She cried out and slid away, taking cover behind a rock too thick to shatter. It showed old blast marks from previous demonstrations. It would only be fabricated if destroyed, and this one had taken one hell of a beating in the past.  

She’d been able to maneuver closer to Togoran, but not close enough.

If only she could get a message to Yune and get him to rescue Terra and find Will. She pulled at the psionic suppressor, but it sent another painful shock through her system. She dropped her knees, panting hard. Bad time to be attempting a telepathic escape. She had no choice. She had to win this on her own.

Determined to win or die trying, Selke ran from her hiding place, and sent a barrage of repulsor blasts at the debris littering the field. Small and mid-sized rocks sailed toward her target.

Togoran sent a sweep of sonic pulses, pulverizing clusters of them, and dodged the rest, only suffering from minor injuries.

 

Meora Alkana watched from the Demonstrator’s entrance, barefoot with her bag slung over her shoulder. Two guards had been guarding this entrance to the hall beyond. The one she’d put into a confusion trace paced in small, lazy circles following a hallucination of his favorite, cute, fluffy animal, completely oblivious to her presence. The other Gaumori guard disappeared into the restricted central complex of the upper level that only security had access to on a mission of his own to fulfill.

The pieces were set into motion. All she had to do now was wait her turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #23: OUTPOST 23.  
> To break down what's in this episode...  
> Station 23 is 105 year old outpost built by the Regents into the existing caves and tunnels of a massive asteroid within the outer rim of the Antana asteroid field in the Kurble sector within Gaumori space. The field used to be a planet called Antana 3, that suffered severe geological instability a thousand years ago until it shattered. Contrary to Will stating it's the size of Manhattan, it's really only 10 miles long and 3 miles in diameter. It looks like a massive potato. It had no rotation, but is stable enough to accommodate the initial core base and original landing platform later bubbled in by the Gaumori to make an observation deck. The Regents only used it as a way station for the construction crew of Starpost 47 in their own space one light year away for 5 years. 
> 
> After the Regents sold it to the Gaumori when they were done, the Gaumori spent the next 100 years turning the entire asteroid into a massive colony with multiple docking bays, cargo holds, and the top was shaved off to serve as the home for the 6 bubbled in arenas for weapons demonstrations. 
> 
> Elements of the original Masakan construction remain in the core and oldest areas of the colony.


	24. A Will to Win

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will uses a crazy plan to rescue Terra, which includes an open-hearted confession to his twin, and Terra losing something important. Selke fights for her life and Terra's without one of her trusted senses. It's a race against the clock for both of them.

###  **Chapter 24 - A Will to Win**

 

Two crewmen at the lowered ramp talked casually about...something. Will strained to eavesdrop, but couldn’t catch a word from his hiding place of larger spaceship parts. He wished the universal translator nanites could also translate lip reading - even though he didn’t know how to lip read in any language. It had been more than three years since he’d seen someone else speak English besides Terra anyway, so it didn’t matter.

Either way, the bored crewmen didn’t seem too concerned about someone trying to break on board. They were dressed in civilian clothing instead of recognizable uniforms, which lead him to believe these were hired thugs by Mougru. Both looked like they wanted to be anywhere else but standing guard. One wore a gaumori designed pulse pistol at his hip while the other had one of Masakan make..and it looked familiar.

“Lucy,” he whispered. That settled it. Terra was definitely on this ship.

Will moved as quietly as he could to the thick landing strut of the closest ship and scanned the surface of Mougru’s for any boarding hatch to connect to an umbilical. The hull was moss green, with an obtuse bumpy design, like someone wadded up a sheet of bubble wrap and called it a ship. However, the bubblewrap ship lent no sign of what he needed. How does a vessel exist out here without an external hatch?

That left one option: the front door.

Will knew he was an afterthought of a Human: a sneeze, a hiccup, a tiny cough - something nobody took seriously, and everyone disregarded. He was small, not physically strong, and definitely not intimidating. So, confronting them with his tiny fists of fury would be pointless and suicidal. Sure, he could use his abilities to knock the two out, but starting a firefight out here with his super power right in the open would only attract unwanted attention, and any chance at rescuing Terra would be blown out into space. No. Breaking rule number two to start a kerfuffle was a bad idea. At least right now.

He had an idea to get in another way. If he planned this out right, and if the Gaumori followed the basic structural rules in ship design that he’d already learned about - aside from the lack of an external hatch, which was weird -, it just might work.

A blue, shimmering energy sphere formed in his right hand. Will fed power into it until it sparked, then gently placed it against the upper joint of the landing strut out of sight. He pulled his hand back, and the sphere held its form. Much like how he would set up targets in the corridors of the Horizon for himself and Terra to practice their aim at, this one would stay until he wanted it to dissipate. Over the years, he and his twin had learned how to sustain an orb’s power unattached to their bodies. He had just never put this amount into one before and left it alone to chill. Hopefully it wouldn’t spaz out and go off too early - which tended to happen with his attempts more often than not.

With his heart pounding, and his courage at max, Will called on the strength in his core - a strength that came from Terra - and walked out into full view of the crewmen. “Hey, guys. Nice day we’re having, right? The sun is out - I mean, the sun is always out. It’s an asteroid field, after all.”

Both raised their weapons on him immediately.

He held both hands in the air. “Whoa, whoa, hey. Don’t shoot. I’m unarmed.”

“It’s just a kid. Get lost,” one of them grumbled and gestured sidelong with his weapon.

“See, that’s the thing.I can’t. I-I-I’m here to-to turn myself in.”

They looked to each other in confusion, then back.

“You guys tried to kidnap me, remember?” Will pasted on his best - yet weak - convivial grin, “It didn’t go so well?”

They both stared at him for a slow second before the first one said, “Why would we ever want to kidnap a runt like you? You’re scrawny. There’s not even enough meat on your bones to feed one of us. You’re an appetizer.”

Will’s fear level spiked. He’d forgotten the Gaumori in the hallway said his species ate human children. Despite the threat of being eaten, he felt oddly insulted.

The crewman raised his gun again. “Run away back to your mommy before I roast you right here.”

“Mougru might get mad if you do that.”

“What does he know of you?”  
Will’s arms dropped slightly in irritation. If this was, indeed, Mougru’s ship, then his hired goons should know about him if they were holding Terra hostage. These two weren’t the brightest matches in the box. “Hey, is there someone else I can talk to?”

“Hold it,” his crewmate slapped the back of his hand to his friend’s chest. “This might be the human that sent Vorim to the infirmary.”

“Yeah, heh. You got it. That-that’s me,” Will admitted. His instinct to save himself grew stronger with each second, but he pushed it back. Terra was in there. He would do whatever he had to to get to her. Terrified or not, he had to remain brave.

“Grab him,” the first ordered.

“But the plan--” the second one began.

“Is still in effect. If this is the boy, then no matter what happens, Mougru wins. But, two hostages are better than one. This’ll make the boss happy, and we’ll get double payment,” he eyed Will with a vicious grin, “both together would make a full meal.”

He searched Will over for a hidden weapon. Finding the boy to be without a gun, he shoved him forward up the ramp into the bright, yellowish light of the ship. One crewman stayed outside at his post. The personal craft was smaller than the Horizon by half, so it only had two decks instead of four, and a cargo hold.

Will felt like he was walking into the lair of an evil, snarling beast waiting at the end to tear him to shreds. His decisions from this point would make or break his rescue attempt. “All-all that stuff about eating human kids...that’s just talk to scare me, right?” Will chuckled lightly.

“Maybe it is. Maybe it isn’t.” The crewman sneered. “What do you think of that?”

Will swallowed. “Disturbing, demented, insane.”

“Demented?” He laughed. “How does an child your age know that word?”

Will sighed. “I don’t feel like explaining this again.”

The crewman grumped. “Doesn’t matter anyway. When Mougru gets what he wants, you won’t be around to explain anything.”

“What does he want?”

“Kellnaris’ suffering. Her sins will be paid for with the things she holds most dear,” he looked down at the boy, “her offspring.”

Will’s jaw slacked. The gaumori in the hall had thought he was Selke’s son, too. Perhaps that was Mougru. It would make sense if he told his hired crew about them. He needed to use this misinformation as a distraction. “If...if you know we’re half felorian, then you should know we have powers. You don’t want to make us angry.”

“Nice try, boy. Felorians don’t start to develop their abilities until puberty. You’re half human, so there’s no guarantee you even have any. You have to be eight, nine galactic years old at most.”

“I’m thirteen and a half!” he argued for the sake of arguing. In galactic time, he was ten, and it still upset him that the crewman was only one year off in his guess.

“Haha! And my mother races wakebacks through the oceans of Zeebi.” He shoved will Forward. “Stop wasting your breath. You’ll need it.”

There was no talking out of this. Mougru fully intended to kill them. And if these guys weren’t joking, they would be on tonight’s menu.

During the distracting conversation, Will had flicked small energy spheres behind his back to stick to the angle of the smooth gray floor where it met the wall. Thankfully, there were long rectangular protrusions lining close to the floor that either housed electronics and wiring, or were simply affectations. Regardless, their existence gave him the idea to plant micro spheres as soon as he saw them.

The crewman keyed in a code and placed his hand on a scanner pad to unlock a storage room door, and shoved Will through into the dim light. One small circular light strained to illuminate the cramped space, but only created a halo in the center. The rounded edges were dark. “Get comfortable. It won’t be much longer now.” The door slid shut behind him. Without a window, the light from the hall cut off completely.

“Will!” Terra rushed to him. Her heart soared as the energy pulled her forward with tremendous joy into the tightest hug she’d given him in forever.

“Terra!” He greedily held onto her. The agitated Altair energy inside him finally settled down, satisfied and calmed that his other half reconnected. Thin threads of power, barely visible to the naked eye, wrapped around her, and she to him. He felt whole again. “Are you ok? Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine. Just a little tired,”she pulled away, looking worried. The threads smoothly flowed back to their sources. “Where’s aunt Selke?”

“Mougru has her fighting in a demonstration.”

“Who’s Mougru? What demonstration?”

Will checked the door over. “A gaumori with a grudge, and a fight to prove who has the biggest--”

“I get it. But why?”

He lit the palm of his hand slightly to run it along the wall where the door’s internal workings would be. This never worked in the holding cell of the Horizon, because Yune shielded everything to the extreme. “He’s using you as leverage.”

“Leverage?” It was moments like these she wished her vocabulary was as extensive as his, even though she loved to read and could remember the medical terminology she’d learned without a problem. They both had their strong points - recalling random words at any given time just wasn’t one of hers.

“It means to hold something hostage so they can get the other person to do what they want.”

“Why are they mad enough at her to kidnap us?”

“No clue. Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber out there mentioned her sins being paid for with our lives. They think she’s our mom. Did you see the guy who took you?”

“No. I felt this sharp pain in my back, and then woke up in here.”

He recalled the stun pin Meora gave him still in his jacket pocket. “They tried to get me the same way with this,” he held out the stun pin, which she took to look over, frowning. “It’s a stun pin.”

Will remembered waking up in brief intervals on the way to her house. The same should have happened to Terra. “You didn’t wake up on the way here at all?”

She shook her head. “No. I felt really weird for a second, like I was floating, I heard something like a ‘woosh’, then I was here.”

“That sounds like it only lasted a few seconds,” he mused. “That doesn’t make sense. The distance from the observation deck we were on to here takes a lot longer than that.”

“So, if you got away, how did they get you?”

“I turned myself in.”

“You what?”

He put on his best confident smirk. “Terra Kitridge, I’m here to rescue you.”

“Rescue me,” She let go and ran her hand through her hair. “I hate to break it to you, but you’re in here, too. And the door is locked from the other side. We’re both trapped.”

“Exactly.”

She blinked. “You _wanted_ to get caught?”

“Yup. It’s all part of my genius plan.”

She spread her arms. “What kind of a rescue plan involves you getting captured?”

“The kind that--” Will’s heart dropped when he realized the out he expected didn’t exist. “--should have worked if we had a window, or a ceiling hatch, or even an access panel.”

“Great plan, Indiana.”

“Look, it was the only way I could think of to get to you. Getting in was easy. Getting out...might be a problem.” He began looking around the room for a weakness. “I just gotta think.”

“That sounds like an uncle Yune idea,” she watched him run his hands along the walls over and around the scorch marks and dents she’d caused.

“His ideas work. ...Sometimes.” The room looked like popcorn seeds had shot off in every direction and peppered the surface. “Wow, you really wrecked this place like it ripped the head off your favorite teddy bear.”

“That sounds like something he’d say, too. And now I miss my teddy bear. Thanks for the reminder that it got blown up with everything else.”

“Sorry. You know, you’re starting to sound more like aunt Selke, so you’re not in the clear here, either.”

She frowned. “What, by being your voice of reason?”

He stared back at her, unblinking. “Is that a rhetorical question?”

“No. ...whatever that means.”

“It means you’re making a statement by asking a question without actually wanting an answer to it.”

“Then yes, it was rhetorical.”

She’d just proven his case.

“Fine.” It was definitely something their aunt would say. She relented. “How did you find me?”

“The same way we could find each other before. You were so far away, I couldn’t feel you at first. I wasn’t thinking clearly. It didn’t give me detailed descriptions of this place, just where you basically were.”

They both knew they were connected, but it hadn’t been tested to this extreme. She’d had no idea which direction he was in until a few minutes ago, and she’d stopped using all of her strength to try to break out. She’d laser focused on him to a point where she could sense him moving toward her. It let her know he was alive, but not if he was hurt.

“We have to get out of here fast. If we don’t by the time the demonstration ends, we’ll be the main course in a Gaumori feast.”

“They were serious about that?” her eyes widened.

“I don’t know, but I don’t want to risk being served with a dinner salad to find out.”

She watched him in silence for a moment. She didn’t bother to help, because she’d spent the past hour or more - it felt like an eternity - trying every trick she’d learned to escape. Because of that, her energy was drained. She could feel it, and wanted to sleep. It would be a miracle if she could create a partially-charged zephyr ball.

Yet, despite her instinct to draw energy from him to help her recover and regain her strength, she abstained. His painful words from before resurfaced. “Why did you come after me?”

“Huh?” he looked back at her like she’d spoken an alien language without his translator on to decipher it. “What kind of dumb question is that?”

“I thought you didn’t want me around anymore. I thought you wanted to do everything by yourself.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You said you didn’t need me.”

“I do need you. I just--”

“Was a really huge jerk about it.” 

His shoulders slumped. “Yeah. I was an idiot..”

“You forgot ‘stupid,’ and imbecilic,’ and ‘mean,’ and--.”

“Ok, ok, we’ve established that I screwed up.” He deserved every insult. “Wait. Where did you hear the word ‘Imbecilic?”

“Aunt Selke. She uses it a lot.”

“Ah,” they both knew she was talking about their uncle. “Makes sense.”

Their little shorthand, and his presence relaxed her, but it had an unwelcome side effect. Now that they were trapped together, and she no longer feared for his life, or stressed out wondering if she would ever see him again, her anger at him was free to take center stage once more.

She turned her back and walked away, leaving her imbecilic brother to his side of the room.

First he’d dealt with this within himself thanks to Meora, but now he had to confront his other half. He became more serious to convey how horrible he felt about upsetting her. “Terra… I’m sorry. I was wrong.”

She folded her arms.

“I thought I didn’t need anyone’s help to be taken seriously. I wanted to prove that I could take care of myself, that I was just as strong as Uncle Yune,” his confidence dropped. “But I’m not. That dorkface from earlier would have beat me into ground beef if I didn’t know I had my power to fall back on. Without it…” he called a swirling spark to his palm, and then closed his fist around it so it glowed through his fingers before returning back to his body, “I’m too small to do anything. We can’t fight for ourselves at all, and I hate it.”

She pursed her lips, wanting to look at him, but her stubbornness kept her from doing so.

He took a few steps toward her. “When you disappeared, I...I got scared. I didn’t know where you were, or if I would ever see you again, and it was all my fault. It...it actually hurt. Losing you was the scariest thing I’ve ever felt. I never want to go through that again.”

That guilt radiated to her. She’d felt the same when she’d awakened in this room. Something had been ripped out of her. It hurt, and screamed at her continuously to escape and find him. When she couldn’t sense him, her mind froze and she panicked. He was such an integral part of her, that she felt half when he was suddenly gone.

“Even if I could one-shot every Regent in the face, even if I could command an entire fleet to take out the Xox, and do everything alone, I don’t want to.” He spanned the dark distance and rested his hand on her shoulder, easing her to turn and face him. “Because I promised we’d stay together. I’m never going to leave you behind, Terra. Ever. For any reason. I will always be here for you. We will always be Will and Terra. Like you said,” he laced his fingers between hers in their old familiar, comfortable way, “it’s who we are.”

She smiled and tightened her hand. Their energy emitted a faint blue glow. “Just promise you won’t be such a big jerk again, ok?”

“Ok. But, you do know who our uncle is, right?” He smirked, indicating that it took a level of snarkiness to survive having Yune and Selke as guardians.

She slugged him in the shoulder. “You know what I mean.” Her demeanor turned to apologetic. “And I know what you mean.” Sometimes she felt the same way.

The air between them lightened. They were a team. And if they had future arguments on this - which was bound to happen due to both of them being stubborn -, they would need to remember that.

She rested her forehead on his shoulder, and finally let go of the tension hiding her exhaustion. Her limbs felt heavy from the lack of energy.

Will picked up on that. He brought up his arms to hold her and give her whatever she needed when the door slid open.

They broke apart as light spilled through around a gaumori silhouette. One of the men from Will’s abduction attempt stepped across the threshold. “Isn’t this a precious moment. Gets me right here,” he placed his green hand on the center of his chest, then moved it to his stomach in time to a disgusted expression.

“Let us go, or you’ll regret it,” Will threatened.

His mouth turned down as he recognized the small human. “I remember you. You said that before. You tried to take out my knee. I was in the infirmary for an hour,” he growled.

“Vorim, right? Yeah, not sorry about that,” Will folded his arms.

Vorim quickly aimed him pulse pistol at Will’s forehead. “I should kill you now,” he paused, “but why waste a shot,” he holstered it. He held up a datadot with live footage of the ongoing demonstration. “I thought you might like to see the end of the fight.” He tossed the datadot to the floor where it slid into the halo of light.

He turned to the gaumori who’d lead Will inside. “Prepare the ship for launch. O2 evacuation will commence immediately at the signal from Mougru.”

“Right away,” the crewman complied, and left.

“What?” Terra’s breath caught in her throat. “O2 evacuation? You can’t!”

“I was paid to enact revenge against the Traitor of Gaumaron, and I always fulfill my contracts. I’d start taking deep breaths if I were you.” The hired muscle shut the door.

They stared in shock.

“At least we know they’re not going to eat us.”

“Will!” she chastised. “Not helping!” She paced the halo of light around him, running her hands through her hair. “Why didn’t you blast him so we can get out of here? I don’t want to die.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

That was a good question. He should have, but he froze.

He crouched down and picked up the datadot. The media drones showed multiple blasts from Selke’s weapon and Togoran’s - both shattering rock and kicking up clouds of dust. Selke took a few hits, but so did her opponent. The crowd ate it up, having no idea of the real stakes. The victor would be decided if no one yielded or died by the end of the time limit. “Aunt Selke…“ Meora should be helping her, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Maybe she’d lied to him. He’d trusted her to save his aunt. His heart sank from the weight of betrayal - a feeling he’d hoped to never have again.

“It’s almost over,” Terra said. Only five minutes remained. Togoran’s score was higher than Selke’s by fifteen points, and their aunt looked tired. She wanted to be as optimistic as her twin, but she couldn’t see a way out of this. The fear cut a cold line down her spine. Soon, their oxygen would be siphoned out of the room, and they would die of asphyxiation.

Will frowned as the timer counted down. It couldn’t end like this. Not after everything they've been through, everything they’ve survived.

He stood and looked around again for an escape plan. “You couldn’t even punch a hole in the wall. Some of these look like they should have gone straight through the bulkhead.” He knew she wasn’t as strong as he was, but she wasn’t a pushover, either. “That means it might be made of the same stuff as the holding cell.”

“Trianite,” they said synchronously in dismay.

The Horizon’s cell was made of three layers of tritanium coated in a thick layer of duranite. They had dubbed the combination ‘trianite.’ A layer of a non-conductive alloy called cortanium added to each layer made it impossible to conduct their bio-energy through it.

Her attempts here had sparked tendrils of energy to spider out at each impact, which meant it was reinforced with at least one layer of the impenetrable combo.

Will stared down the door like it was the other gunslinger at a high-noon showdown. “Well, you’re not alone anymore. Let’s blow this joint.”

“Will…”

“On the count of three.”

“Will...” her small voice begged.

“One...two…”

“Will, I can’t!”

He wasn’t expecting a burst of confession like that. It threw him off. “Huh?”

“Look,” She formed a sphere, but it crackled and melted back into her arm.

He remembered the level of exhaustion he’d sensed from her before. “Oh, right. Sorry,” he frowned sadly. He held out his hand. “I’ll give you a boost.”

“It won’t work. I...I used everything I had trying to get out of here. This is yours. Not mine.” Whenever she accepted his help, she could feel the difference between his and hers until both merged.

The confidence he’d conjured up evaporated with her words.  Sure, his help would keep her comfortable and normal - she’d be able to use his energy like it belonged to her until her own returned to it’s normal level - but that’s all it would do for now. The only way to get her own back was to let it recharge, so to speak. And the best way to do that was through sleep.

Will had used up all of his energy before at Strafsend, and barely remembered feeling something warm draw up through his palms from the grass when he’d clutched at the dirt. It was probably a reaction to phase six. Terra had kept him going with her own. But she, herself, had never gone to that extreme until now.

They weren’t infallible. A knot tightened in his chest. Without her own power to be amplified by his, it might as well be two Wills shooting at the same spot at half strength.

She began to tear up. “I’m sorry. All I could think about was getting back to you. I wanted you, aunt Selke, and uncle Yune, and the Horizon, and I wasn’t thinking straight--” she hung her head in shame and clenched her fists, “and now we’re gonna die. I’ve heard having no air is like drowning without being in water. I don’t want to drown in space!”

“We’re not going to die,” he assured her.

“Then how are we gonna get out of here?”

The potency of this mysterious energy within him was higher than hers, but even with that advantage on his side, it would take too much time.

The claw of dread cut through his core as the timer in the demonstration ticked closer to zero. He couldn’t see a way out of this.

 

****

Selke hid behind a pile of rubble to catch her breath. She was cut, bleeding, bruised, but far from giving up. She refused to relent, or die. However, if she didn’t score more points to surpass Togoran’s, her fight would be for nothing.

“With Togoran holding a strong lead, it’ll take a miracle for Kellnaris to get out of this one,” the commentator bantered. “I expected more from the Traitor of Gaumaron. I don’t know about you, but anyone who bet on this felorian should get ready to fork over their hard earned traetium.”

Selke’s eyes narrowed. “Fine. They want a show?” She powered up the modified plasma discharge weapon, flicking her steel gaze to her opponent and slowly stood with the weapon lowered to her right side, “I’ll give them one they’ll never forget.”

She used the repulsor polarity node to send a cloud of stone toward him as a distraction, spun the staff, and aimed toward a massive boulder that had somehow survived the repeated enslaughts. She pushed the setting to maximum, narrowed the band, and pulled the trigger.

A beam of solid green energy shifted to blue and impacted the boulder. The massive rock began to slide, leaving a channel carved into the ground behind it. It picked up speed, moving to a roll as the dust from the distraction abated. Selke cried out and sent the boulder straight to the other side.

Togoran dove out of the way, narrowing avoiding a full-on impact. Cracks spidered out along the metal retaining wall. He wiped blue blood away from his eyes, and narrowed them with intensity.

That gained her five more points. Closer, but still not enough.

The clocked ticked down to three minutes.

The announcer’s voice rang clearly through the arena. “And Kellnaris executes an impressive boulder crunch maneuver! It’s clear that neither demonstrator is willing to throw in the towel! Here’s hoping Togoran can maintain the lead until the timer runs out, or Kellnaris is taken home on a stretcher!”

Selke sent the commentator's box a dirty glare. She ran to the left to avoid a sonic pulse impact, but not fast enough. The blast sent her tumbling across the ground and knocked the staff out of her hands.

“Oh, a take-down by Togoran! That looked like it hurt, folks. Looks like it’s the end of the line for this felorian!”

Her vision blurred from pain shooting through her weary, beat up body. She tried to push herself up, but her arms wouldn’t hold. No...she couldn’t lose. Terra’s life was at stake. Her niece,...her family. Yune likely tried to stop this charade, but it was clear he was unable to sway them. This was a situation he had no power over. He would feel completely helpless, and angry. If he could get in here to get his hands dirty with her, he’d have done it by now. Yune didn’t play by other people’s rules unless someone he trusted was in jeopardy. Which meant they were holding something over him so he’d be forced to simply watch.

Seeing his chance at victory, and with two minutes left on the clock, Togoran started running in a wide circle in the middle of the field around Selke with his weapon aimed at the ground. It emitted a continuous pulse that pushed the debris into a growing pile rolling like a snowball from hell.

The vibration rattled through her head. She saw it circle her once, then twice, picking up more and more rocks with every pass. There was no way she could defend against that, or run.

The staff lay just out of reach. She wouldn’t give up, even if she died trying. Selke stretched out her right arm toward it.

A tumbling rock bounced across her wrist.

“Ah!” She screamed and clutched at her arm. It sent up so much pain that it fogged her mind.

 _Fight_.

The word broke through her haze of thoughts. It didn’t belong to her.

_This is not your time to die, Selke Kellnaris._

Selke’s eyes strained to see through the cloud of debris searching for the source. The psionic suppressor blocked her own abilities, but someone was able to get through.

_They did not come to you by chance. There is still more you need to do. Fight. Think beyond yourself._

The boulder circled once again, growing larger along with the hype of the crowd.

Think beyond yourself...that was a phrase her sister had learned from her studies with the Ai Hiri. She’d repeated it often when faced with a difficult task that her normal approaches failed to fix. It used to annoy Selke. Her older sister always thought she knew best, and would berate her about choosing a life of physical combat instead of their family’s long standing tradition of delving into the potential of their psychic prowess. Selke was perfectly fine staying on the standard empathic level of everyone else.

She wasn’t the first Kellnaris to chose not to join the Ai Hiri, but she knew her decision had disappointed her parents. They doted on their eldest, and didn’t even say good-bye when Selke left home. Her sister was the smart one, the golden child who preferred non-violence - even though the two would fight occasionally, and she enjoyed kicking Yune’s butt for fun.

She couldn’t approach this in her own way. But maybe she could approach it in Enieya’s way.

Selke rolled to her right, barely avoiding it a larger chunk that would have knocked her out, if not killed her. She snatched the staff in her left hand, got to her knees and fired at the deadly boulder. Its speed picked up, fueled by the existing centrifugal force. At first she stayed low, sweeping the staff in the same direction as Togoran’s sonic waves. She could use his attack against him.

She spun the repulsor staff in a circle around her, standing and using the constant beam to push the ring of debris and the boulder skyward.

Togoran realized what she was doing, and shut off his weapon, but it was too late. She’d taken control of his attack. He didn’t see that one coming.

The ring lifted higher and higher, spinning like a bola in flight. Small pebbles peppered the stands, causing people to shield themselves. Two of the media drones were knocked out of the air.

The venomous glare she threw her opponent unsettled him. Keeping the beam going, she reversed directions, slowing down the ring, but keeping it airborne. The cluster broke apart, no longer held together by gravitational force. She spun the staff in a circle above her head, keeping every bit of asteroid suspended in the air. Half of the field now rotated above the arena.

In one quick shot, Selke thrust the staff downward, sending herself flying up into the rock-less eye of the storm. The rocks plummeted to the ground.

Togoran zig zagged, dodging the closer, more dangerous ones, but not bothered by the pebbles. They bounced off his thick skin.

Selke fired a shot at a large boulder, sending it hurtling toward Togoran. The rebound kept her in flight.

Strike after strike from her aerial assault pounded into the dirt, sending up plumes of dust.

He used his weapon to fend off a few of the attacks, but quickly became overwhelmed.

With a warrior’s cry. Selke sent what was left of the cobbled together boulder straight at Togoran.

The impact sent a shock wave through the surface that reverberated into the stands.

The crowd gasped in horror. Even the commentators were speechless as everyone waited for the thick cloud of dirt to settle.  

From the VIP box, Yune wanted to shout to the heavens that this amazing woman was his wife, but in this case, he feared this spectacular move would give her enough points to overtake the Erlox’ lead.

Two smaller blasts from the staff slowed her fall. She landed in a crouch, holding her right wrist against her chest, and stood, breathing hard. Her entire body screamed at her to lie down, but she ignored it.

The dust settled, and there, only a couple of feet from the boulder, lay the massive, hulking gray body of Togoran.

“I never thought I’d utter these words in my career, but Togoran... is down,” the commentator lamented.

Selke approached him slowly to the shocked crowd begging their champion to get up.

He groaned twitched, and pushed himself up to his hands and knees. The fire in his steel gaze could melt the very rock that nearly killed him. It made her stop and raise her weapon.

“Wait! Hold your refund complaints that you wouldn’t get anyway! He’s moving! With only a few seconds on the clock, this last shot will decide their fates!”

Togoran staggered to his feet, gripped the weapon, and slowly raised it. He glanced up to the patron VIP box where Wedrey, Yune, and Mougru watched with heavy anticipation. He narrowed his eyes at Selke, who looked ready to drop. His finger hovered near the trigger...

A loud ping resounded through the arena.

“And that’s the match! Wowie, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have never seen a closer or more hair-raising duel than what we just witnessed here today! The judges scores are coming in… And the winner of this death-defying, heart-pounding demonstration is…” yellow numbers ticked across the screens by each of their pictures and landed on a final outcome. 55 to 56. “TOGORAN! Your reigning champion! What a show! What. A. Show!”

The crowd exploded in cheers, showering Togoran with accolades, and a few flowers and gifts thrown onto the field. They started up the chant of his name again.

Their victory locked her in a bubble of shock and despair. “I lost…” She was one away from a tie, which would mean overtime, and Terra’s life. “No…” Her eyes rested on the VIP box, and the figure of her stunned husband within. The modified plasma staff slipped from her fingers.

Togoran noticed this, growled low with determination, and left the arena.

 

****

“Yes!” Yune cheered. He spun on Mougru. “It’s over. Hold up your end of the deal and let Terra go. Now.”

“Oh, it’s not over yet,” Mougru gestured to Wedrey, who raised his pulse pistol.

Yune glared at them. “Yes, it is.”

“On the contrary. To make things more interesting, we’ve told Kellnaris that if she loses, her daughter’s fate is sealed. We can’t very well go against either contract, now can we.

Mougru held up the datadot. “No matter the outcome, Selke Kellnaris will suffer.”

Yune’s heart stopped. “You can’t be serious. This goes against the code of your people--” his eyes widened when he realized they were never out to profit from the other. He’d never known a Gaumori to put a personal vendetta against the greater good of his wallet and partnership. “The polarity node and gel beads were never a factor at all, were they. Terra isn’t in custody by security. You never made a deal with them, did you. You have her. You don’t care if you get anything out of this.”

“And it’s a three ring take for the Mik,” the gaumori gave a malicious, fake cheer. “Security never knew about her.”

“As for what we get, we get the satisfaction of Kellnaris behind bars grieving for her child,” Wedrey gloated. 

“I’m sorry about your wife, and your brother, and everyone on board that ship,” Yune said, “but this,” he swept his arm toward the window facing the arena, “is insane. It’s not going to bring them back.”

“Maybe not, but it will satisfy the payment owed for their lives.” Mougru’s finger hovered over the datadot’s screen. “They will be avenged!”

With the smile of a man about to taste victory, he thrust the datadot at Yune, forcing him to catch it so the Mik couldn’t draw his weapon, and spoke into his com. “Now.”

\-----------

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #24: The Gaumori  
> Pale green skinned with yellow tinge on a wide cartilage ridge that circles their skull, bumps down their spines, and their hands and feet. Their noses are generally flat with a snake-like appearance. 
> 
> Although they are a 'for profit' species who adore anything to do with business, they have strict codes of conduct that involves never trafficking sentient beings, never backing out of a contract without going through the proper channels, never double crossing a client, avoiding allocating money and resources to low dividends, alien ventures (gaumori startups are fine), and never going into business solo. Partnerships are the only way to succeed in their society. A solo gaumori is a failure, and never taken seriously. 
> 
> They are a very patriarchal society, but women can be in a partnership. They just can't be the head of the partnership. Women can own property, vote, and have accounts in their names, and are head of their family household. However, they are still very restricted, and urged to buy flowing gowns and skull bone jewelry. Women can also sit on the Conglomerate - their government. A woman has never held the seat of Kulgah- their head of state. The Kulgah holds the deciding power of an emperor, but decisions can be overthrown by majority vote of the Conglomerate. This, however, is rare. The Kulgah's word is final.
> 
> Their military isn't the strongest, but they joined the Masakan Federation, and have proven to be able to hold their own in a Xox attack. 
> 
> They have a strong sense of loyalty to their own people, and that's it. They remain in the Maskan Federation for the same reason many species do: protection against a common enemy. They look at Humans a lesser beings, barbaric for being on equal ground to their females, and physically repulsive. Hairy creatures make them sick. 
> 
> If all other options to negotiate fail, death of a rival is acceptable. 
> 
> Gaumori evolved from a reptilian species. Their planet, Gaumaron, has a sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen based atmosphere, has very little forests, lots of mountains, and an equal number of plains. Tornados, tsunamis, and hurricanes are a global issue.


	25. Layers of Deceit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The confrontation between the vengeance-seeing gaumori and Yune comes to a head as Will and Terra fight to escape Mougru's ship.

###  **Chapter 25 - Layers of Deceit**

 

A ping sounded on the datadot in Will’s hand. The media flashed Togoran’s face as the winner by a score of 56, and Selke’s at 55.  “Oh no…” Will uttered. The match’s conclusion signified their deaths as a dinner menu item, or drowning in space. Or both.

Slim vents opened up at the top of the walls.

A hissing sound filled the room. 

Mougru had gone through with his threat.  

A modification like this wasn’t necessary for a regular supply hold. Will turned in a tight circle to get a look at all ten narrow rectangular openings, when it dawned on him as to why they were there. They could be used to pump in gas, or syphon out the air. “This isn’t a storage room. The reinforced walls, the vents, no window… Mougru goes after bounties.”

“A holding cell? He knew I’d try to break out?” Terra took a deep breath. 

“He thinks you’re aunt Selke’s daughter. He might think you’re just like her.”

“Shoot first, ask questions later? I am not like that!”

“Well, I mean…”

“Will!”

He held up both hands. “Ok, ok. Maybe he didn’t think you could break out, but he wanted to make sure anyway.” 

This wasn’t much of a holding cell. It was simply a round, windowless room with very little light, no bed, no toilet, and no food or water. Its lack of amenities to tend to the physical needs of the unfortunate soul held here made the Horizon’s look like a luxury hotel room. Clearly Mougru didn’t care about the lives of his bounties. 

They would not be the first to die in this room. 

She gasped, “It’s getting... harder to... breathe.” Terra ran to the door. “Let us out,” she banged her fists against the metal. Sapphire bio-energy flared beneath her hand in weak, brief bursts. 

His breaths became quicker, as did his heartbeat, and he clutched at a tightening in his chest. 

Terra inhaled hard, grabbing at her throat. “I can’t...breathe…”

A spiked ball of panic formed in his gut with each forced inhalation. All thoughts went out the window. “Help!” he cried. “Help!” But he knew his uncle had no clue what was going on, and his aunt just lost the battle. No one but Meora knew where they were. 

She had said he possessed the tools to find another way. Will’s fingers brushed over the back casing of the datadot. This was a tool. Maybe he could use it. He checked the battery’s life in the settings. It was at full power - a brand new cell. He closed the pad and unlocked the curved back plate.

Terra placed both hands against the door in pure panic for their lives, and sent every shred of power she had left into it. It created a massive dent, but didn’t puncture the metal. 

His eyes widened. That added to his idea. Terra’s latest attempt to escape did the most structural damage. 

She braced herself against the door, heaving to take in as much air as possible. When he tried the same thing, it only deepened the dent. A few minutes of his attempts, and they would break through, but they didn’t have more than a few seconds. Her eyes flicked from his tinkering with the datadot to him. 

“I got...an...idea…” With the weak point isolated in the door, he worked to remove the case holding the ephypsan battery from the handheld unit. He pocketed the datadot, and held the small, luminescent cylinder in his palm. 

They inhaled once more, and then, nothing. 

Terrified and feeling the ache in her lungs, she stumbled back to him. The fear in his brown eyes matched hers. She’d used the last of what he’d given her, and dropped to her knees, trying to inhale. Her vision blurred. 

This was a race against time they would lose if this failed. 

Will held up the battery, pointed from it to her to the damaged area on the door, and pushed his intent through their bond as hard as he could. 

It didn’t come through in words, but in a feeling, and a quick image of what he wanted. Her eyes lit up. The door. He was going to blow it up with the battery. And he needed her to be his sure shot. 

He needed her.

Blue threads began to course over his body as his mind slowly lost the battle against primal panic. The Altairan energy pulsed to escape the trauma. He felt it attempting to reach out to her, even though she suffered the same way. 

He clenched his fist around the battery. A blue glow emanated from between his fingers as he pushed energy into the particles within, hyper-charging them to the point where they became unstable. 

With the small cell hot enough to burn, he opened his fist.

She snatched it from his hand, knowing his power wouldn’t hurt her, and let it fly at the door, praying she hit her rmark. 

The battery exploded upon impact. 

Metal shrapnel shot outward into the room from the sudden compression of atmosphere. 

Will grabbed her, spun, and dropped to the floor. He braced himself over her to protect her. As he did so, a sliver of metal grazed his lower jaw on the right side too fast for him to feel it.

   Air wooshed into the room. 

They gulped down air in greedy need. Oxygen never tasted so good.

“We’re alive,” he panted.

Terra squeaked from beneath him. He’d landed half across her. They had survived certain death, and her mind reeled from recovering from that terror. She would probably cry later - as would he (she knew her brother), but was too numb right now to think about it.

He sat up. “You ok?”

Her heart pounded from fear, but she nodded. After a moment, she sat up. “You?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, but didn’t stand yet. A short, thin line of blood edged near his chin. 

“You’re bleeding,” she reached out to check it. 

He touched it, coming away with blood on his fingertips. “It’s just a scratch. I don’t even feel it.” Which was a lie. It hurt. But all he cared about was that she was unharmed.

“How did you know that would work?” 

“Lucky guess. Remember those ephypsan particle experiments they put us through?” 

She recalled the most poignant of a few experiments regarding a chamber filled with those particles back on Strafsend. The poor Masakan scientist who’d inadvertently caused a reaction had been sent to the hospital from severe burns. Ephypsan particles were highly unstable when charged to the extreme. Will had put himself in front of her to keep the scientist away once he realized they were going to remove her from the test chamber and leave him alone to study the effects of separation on them in that environment. He couldn’t care less about the second part. Just the first. Both children were highly energetic from the particles, and had no control over their powers. Will had screamed at the scientist to stay away, and his power lashed out in a feral defensive lightning bolt attack. He hadn’t been able to recreate it since. 

“Well, now we know why we’re not allowed to use our power around the core.” She said. 

“I’m kind of really okay with that rule, now.” He didn’t know how their uncle had figured that out, or why he didn’t tell them. Which made him wonder what else Yune knew that they didn’t. 

If one tiny battery with a three year lifespan at full charge could do this kind of damage after he got to it, an overcharged ephypsan core could vaporize an entire ship. 

Selke had told him back at Ekeron station while his uncle was undergoing surgery that he had the potential to hurt people - as did everyone. But she failed to mention that he and Terra had the capacity to cause mass destruction. 

Knowing that possibility existed made him wary of his own sometimes glitchy control. A memory of the Tagron Night Wraith he nearly killed flared across his mind's eye. In that moment, he swore to never lose control like that ever again. 

He helped her to her feet, and together, they ran into the hall. 

“What about aunt Selke?”

“It’s cool. She’s being rescued by a felorian in crocs.”

The small girl couldn’t feign greater confusion if she tried. “You wanna run that by me again?”

“Yeah, it’s just as weird to me, too.” 

An exterior, deep explosion rattled the ship. 

A level of dread equal to the sudden arrival of a swarm of bees reared up in Will. “Oh no.”

“That wasn’t part of this?”

“No.” Narrowly avoiding suffocation had broken his hold on the sphere. He grabbed her hand, “That was my backup plan,” and fled. 

They made it down to the first deck, thanks to Will remembering the turns they took to get to the cell. Backtracking was easy since it was a small ship, but on the downside...it was a small ship.

“Hold it!” One of the two remaining hired hands blocked their escape. 

They split down a connecting corridor, and back, leading him on a chase, but Will’s knowledge of the ship only went so far. They made it back to the way out, but were soon cut off again by the same gaumori. 

“I know every inch of this vessel. I could do this all day, but I have a contract to fill,” the gaumori spoke into the com unit behind his ear. “Ular to Mougru. I’ve got them.”

No reply followed.

“Mougru,” he tried again. 

The glimmer of a silver handle protruded from the holster at Ular’s hip. Terra’s eyes narrowed. She thrust out both hands, but only hair-fine tendrils of energy coursed over them, then faded. She slumped, weakened and tired. She cursed. She could have sworn she’d regained at least a tiny bit of her own by now. Will was literally the only thing keeping her standing. 

Ular blinked at her odd behavior. He’d caught sight of the weird blue effect, but didn’t know how to explain it. It couldn’t be another weapon. Both children were completely unarmed. He’d made sure of that himself. 

Will couldn’t risk sending her energy right now. One mistaken move might set off this alien’s hair trigger. “Ok!” He held up his hands. “You win. We’re scared and wanna go home. Please don’t hurt us.”

“I don’t know how you broke out, but I’m going to find out what kind of weapon you have, steal it, and make you pay for every inch of that room you damaged.”

“I thought Mougru wanted us dead on a platter.”

“Payment first, then death. You should be happy you’ve extended your life.”

Will affixed him with the deepest ‘screw you’ glare he could manage. “Extend this, you bag of stapled thumbs!” In a swift move, he crossed both arms into an X with his fingers outspread.

Multiple hidden sphere zipped out into the hall. 

The second of confusion it caused was all he needed. He swept his arms out to the side and back, releasing his hold. 

Fifteen zephyr balls went off like a minefield. They triggered one after the other in rapid succession. Each burst into multiple plumes of light with a concussive blast. Yet with so many of them, they created enough brilliance and force to knock the gaumori off his feet.

During the distracting conversation when he’d turned himself in, Will had flicked small energy spheres behind his back to stick to the angle of the smooth gray floor where it met the wall. Thankfully, there were long rectangular protrusions lining close to the floor that either housed electronics and wiring, or were simply affectations. Regardless, their existence gave him the idea to plant micro energy spheres as soon as he saw them. 

Will grinned as he looked back to her. “My backup-backup plan.” Thank god near death hadn’t set these off, too.

She blinked the spots out of her eyes. “‘Extend this?’”

“What? It sounded cooler in my head.”

Ular propped himself up on his elbows. Stunned, but now very angry, he raised his gun arm at Will. 

Terra screamed past her brother, raised her fist, and rammed the stun pin into the crewman’s first available spot: his leg. 

He screamed from the pain spidering through his nervous system before he blacked out, and his limp body splayed across the floor. 

“That’s for taking Lucy.” She sent the last of her borrowed power through him to make sure he stayed down. The gaumori spasmed, gargled, grumbled, and collapsed - still alive, but unconscious. “And that’s for everything else.”

He realized then that he would have been killed. Terra saved his life. He didn’t expect her to go full berzerk like that. The gaumori’s tongue lolled to the side. 

She dropped to the deckplate and panted around her racing heart. She’d just rushed an armed man a breath away from shooting her other half. Her entire body shook from fear, but she held strong. If Will could do it, so could she. 

 She swallowed hard and watched the world fuzz in and out, like she was close to blacking out. She tried to stand, but nearly fell from exhaustion and trauma. 

He caught her. “Whoa, easy, --huh?” His Altair energy reacted on its own unconsciously. He was never really aware of such an exchange unless he focused. Mostly it was tiny bursts he vaguely caught like someone brushing a feather over his hair. This was the first time she’d been completely drained, and that much pulling out of him outside recovery from the Inclusion phases never happened. That wasn’t a feather. That was someone rubbing a balloon against his head so his hair would stand on end. 

Her skin warmed slightly at the familiar and welcomed sense. She was still tired, but at least she could run without feeling like she was dragging the Horizon behind her. “There’s no time for that,” she let go. 

“I didn’t do it. I mean, I did, but I didn’t. It wasn’t me. I--I mean it was me, but--.”

“You’re not making sense. Look, we’ll figure it out when we get home.”

He conceded. “Right. Just don’t use it until you get some sleep. I don’t want to have to drag your butt back to the ship.” 

Terra took her pulse pistol back from Ular and holstered it. She would rely on Will, but at least she could defend them both if need be. 

Thankfully, his backup plan had everyone frantic about what had caused the explosion, which left all of their attention diverted away from Mougru’s ship. 

“Huh. It worked. Not the way I planned, but--”

“I’ll take it.” She started to run down the ramp, but slammed to a halt. He almost ran into her. “Wait!”

“Whoa! Running. Stopping. Why?”

“We need a backup-backup-backup plan.” 

“That’s a lot of backups.”

She sent him a knowing glance. “Can you do that again?

He followed her sight line back into the ship, then smirked. The look she gave him needed no dialogue. He knew exactly what she wanted. He thought it poetic to steal a line from the nemesis they just defeated. “Like the toad said, ‘I could do this all day.’”

A quick moment later, they hurried out of the ship toward the hall that would lead to the upper arena level. The demonstration might be over, but if there was a chance they could save their aunt, they had to try. 

The distance would take far too much time to run it. If anything was going to happen, it would long before they could get there. 

“We’ll never make it in time!” Will panicked.

Terra looked around, then pointed ahead to a hover sled being emptied by its burly O’alli owner. “There! We can use that!”

“What? I can’t drive,” he hissed softly back to her.

“You’re learning to fly a spaceship. This can’t be harder than that. Come on,” she offered the best confidence builder she could.

They waited for him to finish offloading his goods and start talking another of his kind the cargo was meant for in trade. 

Will climbed into the driver’s seat with Terra in the passenger’s to his right. Buttons and various knobs covered the console. The control layout. The only thing that made sense was a dual handled steering column.  “Uh…”

“Hurry up before he sees us.”.

Will pushed a few buttons that looked like an ignition switch, hoping something would fire up the thrusters. The magnet on the bed activated, as did the radio. He scrambled to shut it off, but failed. The lilting tones of an alien singer to an oddly tinny backing track from a weird stringed instrument warbled in their ears. 

“You can drive the Horizon, but you can’t drive a hover sled?”

“That’s a spaceship! This is like a car! They’re two totally different things!” He frantically pushed more buttons.

The owner of the pilfering-in-progress vehicle turned. “Hey!” He abandoned his dealings and bolted for his sled. “Get off ‘a there!”

Will frantically pressed more buttons until the engines burst to life. “Hahah! See? Told you I could -- Wuh!” The sled shot off into the wide hall, carrying the two screaming kids.

“Get back here!” the supply dealer jogged to the nearest wall access panel and slammed his palm against the com section. “Security! Two human kids just stole my sled!”

A reply came over quickly, but sounding confused. [ _Human_ kids? Are you sure?]

“Am I-- Of course I’m sure!”

“...Do we want to know how they managed to--”

“Just get it back!” he shouted.

A loud explosion burst from within Mougru’s ship, sending metal fragments spewing from the access hatch. Ular’s fellow crewmate, Vorim - the only other person on board - stumbled down the ramp in a coughing fit. 

  
****

The other hired crewman with Mougru and Wedrey headed a silent command by his boss to leave the observation room . 

Wedrey aimed his weapon at Yune, who wasted no time in pulling his weapon, and powering it up with the gaumori’s chest as the target. This standoff happened in the course of a second. 

Mougru joined in at his partner’s side with his own weapon drawn. “It’s too late. Your wife will be sent to a Regent prison, and that brat of hers will be dead in seconds.”

Yune risked a glance down at the datadot on the floor. The image now showed two children instead of one. Will had somehow joined her, and both were gasping for air.  

“Stop this, now!” Heat flared in Yune’s center, boiling up into a rage. He didn’t care if station security arrested him. He would kill these two murders. Yune’s finger hovered over the trigger pad when the door’s explosion snared the attention of all three. 

“What?!” Mougru dove for the datadot, scooping it up. His face contorted in rage. The holding cell of his ship was decimated. The two human children slowly got to their feet, and ran out into the hall. “Impossible! That cell was made of the strongest materials available! Tested to its limits! It’s...it’s destroyed!”

He froze when the whine of Yune’s pistol near his head burned in his ears. 

“And now your leverage is gone.” Yune drove a death-glare through the gaumori. He threw his threat to Wedrey. “One twitch, and I will put a bolt through your partner’s head.”

Wedrey faltered, which gave Mougru a sense of safety. Then, like a rabid wolf, he turned. “I got what I came here for. My contract with this pile of scret is complete. I don’t care what you do with him.” 

Seeing his opportunity to double his revenge and gain more joy from Selke’s pain, he raised his weapon at the seething Mik. “However, spilling your blood will make her suffer all the more,” he grinned. 

A tremendous boom blasted through the space as Togoran ripped the door sideways and clear of the locking mechanism, shoved it into the other wall destroying the servos, and barrelled his great stone bear of a body directly into Wedrey. 

Wedrey’s weapon went off at the impact, striking the window and skimming inches away from Yune’s right side.

Yune didn’t flinch. He only stepped aside to let the new wall of muscle lift Wedrey off his feet and hold him over his head.

Mougru stared in horror as Togoran slammed the gaumori to the ground. The weapon jarred from his hand. 

Wedrey’s whimpers and cries filled the room. 

A crackle came to life over Mougru’s com. [Ular to Mougru. I’ve got them.]

The shock of the massive Erlox burstin into the room kept him from answering. 

[Mougru!] Ular insisted. 

Yune kept his weapon trained on Mougru, but gave his attention to the Togoran. Both stared each other down. 

“Yune Darrak,” Togoran said with conviction.

Yune faltered, paranoid that he had angered someone else he forgot about. “...Nope, I, uh... I Don’t  think I know him. He owe you money, or… was a complete jerkwad?”

Togoran’s head tilted slightly. He’d never heard that expression before. Humans could be very weird with their language. 

Yune grimaced. He knew the two small Terrans were absorbing bits and pieces of his and Selke’s mannerisms and sayings, but apparently, he was subconsciously doing the same in return. Living in close quarters with the same people for long periods of time will do that; they adapt to live cohesively, and if that fails, then cohesion shatters, and the team breaks apart - as what happened before. 

Togoran didn’t buy the lie. He was smart enough to see through his palid attempt at deception. He knew better. This was without a doubt the man who had occupied his thoughts for the past five years. The Mik looked less edged, like he wasn’t out to defy the grim reaper at every turn. The differences were small beyond the most obvious: his hair had relaxed from the short spikes, and had grown slightly so the back brushed the bottom of his neck. He appeared to be cleaned up - like he cared about more than just himself. 

He pointed to the arena where the crowd remained, entranced by the viewscreens showing the excitement in the VIP box. 

Yune looked out of curiosity. Selke was no longer in the ring. “Where’d she go?”

“Security.”

Yune’s heart dropped. Part of the bet was that his wife would be detained until the Regents came to collect her if she lost the fight. Since she was declared the loser, they were most likely called - which meant he was now on a time limit to free his wife, find Will and Terra, and get out of town. 

That’s when Yune noticed one of the media drones had followed Togoran. The entire station now had a front row seat to the battle. 

Mougru chuckled in his arrogance, convinced he held the win. He tapped the com set behind his ear. [Ular. Report.]

No reply. However, seconds later, an explosion ripped through his com, forcing him to tear the bud away from behind his ear. Panicked, he pulled up security footage from his ship on the datadot. A hull breach had caused sections A4 through A8 of deck one close to the engine room near an a room containing sensitive equipment to be sealed off. The ship would still fly, but if that mysterious explosion had hit the engines, it would be stranded. 

The veins on his forehead bulged from stress. “The damage...the--the cost of repairs!” His nostrils flared with rage. “This will set me back weeks!”

[Vorim to Mougru. Ular is unconscious. They got away. They were fast. They said nothing. I did my best to--]

“Forget the humans,” he fumed. “What happened to my ship?!”

[Some kind of plasma bomb. I nearly didn’t make it with my skin intact.]

“I thought you checked them for weapons.”

[I did. All they had was a pulse pistol locked to ‘bind,’ and a stun pin.]

“Is the Relay room damaged?”

[Structural bulkhead damage only.]

“Proceed as planned.” Mougru pointed an accusing finger at Yune. “You. Those brats will pay for this.” He seemed to forget that the Mik had a pulse pistol ready to fire a shot straight through his forehead. 

Yune let a grin live despite the dire situation. Will and Terra had managed to cause a decent amount of destruction and escaped on their own, and he couldn’t be more proud. They were like exclamation marks in tiny bodies. 

The human’s arrogant smile snapped Mougru’s hold on his self restraint, and he raised his pistol. 

Togoran snatched him up by the neck with one hand, and wrenched the weapon from him with the other and tossed it to Yune. A low, threatening growl left his throat. 

He clawed at the Erlox hand. 

“Can’t breathe? Hurts, doesn’t it,” Yune threw the weapon far out of the way to the other side of the room. He wanted this alien to suffer the grim fate forced toward his kids.

Togoran dropped him. 

Mougru slumped in a heap, gasping for air. 

Yune didn’t give him a chance to recover. The rogue gripped the collar of Mougru’s jacket, drove him into the wall with the force of a fifteen pound weight dropped to the floor, and hovered the barrel of his pistol an inch away from the quivering gaurmori’s face. Green blood oozed from a cut near the smaller man’s wide yellow eyes. It was moments like these that he was thankful to be part of the strongest of the human races. “You went after my family. I should repaint the walls with your blood for what you’ve done. Trust me - I’ll have no regrets wiping a stain like you out of existence.”

Mougru’s eyes flicked to the media drone hovering behind his assailant, then let a wicked snear cover up the fear for his own life pounding in his chest. “Go ahead,” he rasped, “you’ll have thousands of witnesses. It’ll be good for ratings.”

Every fiber of his being said to kill this monster before he could issue any other devious commands, and to gain revenge for traumatising the Terrans and his wife. 

Mougru’s lips curled into a sinister smile. “The station is watching, Darrak. Will you break a cardinal rule in front of everyone over a lost bet?”

A war between logic and revenge roiled inside Yune. The urge to pull the trigger slowly bubbled up past logic. No being who would willingly kill children - of any race- deserved to draw breath. And since it was the Terrans he’d rescued - not only part of the One Thousand and rare hybrids, but more importantly his adopted niece and nephew - that rule struck far too close to home. 

Mougru embodied every struggle Yune faced since fleeing Masaka with the helpless and abused Will and Terra. He was every pursuit, every avoidance of the Regents and Xox, every second of mistrust of those he once called ‘friends,’ the stress of needing to run wishing they could be left alone, and every sacrifice made to keep Will and Terra safe and alive. Mougru wasn’t a gaumori with a grudge debt anymore. He was everything out to destroy Yune’s family and life. 

Mougru became a villain. And Yune needed a target. His trigger finger twitched. This creature needed to end. 

Mougru cringed when he sensed the decision made to end his life.

“Yune, stop!”

The sound of Selke’s voice broke through the revenge howling through his mind.. 

She walked carefully into the room. The psyonic inhibitor may have stopped her from using her abilities, but her husband’s need for a scapegoat for everything they’ve endured was powerful enough to reach her. “You’re better than this. If you kill him, everything we’ve worked for will be destroyed. Yune,” she urged gently, “they will be lost without you. They need you. And so do I.”

Though he wanted to go through with it, he used her strength - as was part of their Promise. This was being broadcast all over the station, and possibly beyond to any ships tuning in, which might include the Regents and the Xox. And if Will and Terra were on their way here, he didn’t want them to see him take a life. 

He tilted the barrel of the pulse pistol upward and eased the tension in his finger away from the trigger. 

Relief filled Mougru as he straightened and pretended like he wasn’t worried at all. “You are sympathetic after all. You humans think taking the moral high ground will always offer you a better position, but that is your weakne--”

Yune cold-cocked him hard across the face. 

Blood sprayed from Mougru’s nose, completely smashed.

Yune couldn’t shoot him, but he could punch the gaumori so hard his ancestors would see stars. His fist sent a very clear message of ‘come near me and my family again, and I won’t give a damn if the entire galaxy is watching with popcorn. I _will_ kill you.’ 

He hurried away from the unconscious lump and over to his wife. “I thought you were taken by security.” He was ready to storm their holding facility if he had to. 

“They dragged me out, but then just let me go and walked away.”

“Why?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know,” but she had an idea. However, the presence of the media drone forced her to stay tight lipped. 

“You got some good hits in out there.”

“He got a few more,” though she was scratched up, cut, and bruised, she stayed strong on her feet. She gripped his shoulder with intensity. “The children--.”

“We’ll find them.” 

He ran his hand quickly under her hair by her ear. She was alive, and security would soon deal with the mess in here. He nodded to Togoran in thanks. 

The Erlox tilted his head toward the door in a ‘Go. This is over. I’ll keep an eye on them,’ fashion. 

Wedrey’s yellow eyes widened like a caged animal facing a slaughter, and cried out in desperation, “No! I will have my revenge!” He had managed to crawl to his weapon, and fired at Yune’s back. Even if he went to prison, seeing the pain in her eyes would be worth it.

The blue shot would have hit Yune directly between the shoulder blades in a fatal strike to his spine were it not for one factor: 

Togoran threw himself into the path of the bolt.

The blue plasma charge struck the Erlox in the right shoulder, leaving a burn that emitted the acrid scent of burned flesh. The champion fell to the floor.

Selke’s jaw slacked. Beyond the room, and all throughout the station, the audience gasped. All went deathly still. A few scattered susurrations of disbelief left the mouths of people from all over the station. Their hero had just been shot. 

A security team rushed in with their weapons trained on the gaumori. 

“Restrain them,” the gaumori guard heading the four man unit ordered. 

Two o’alli hoisted Mougru’s body to his feet, and slapped him lightly to bring him back to consciousness, while another disarmed Wedrey and clamped his hands behind his back. 

“Get a medic in here, now!” the head of the security team barked. 

She hadn’t expected the fighter to pull a twist like this. With the way he’d spoken her husband’s name in the waiting area, she’d expected him to go for Yune’s throat, not save his life. She knelt at his side. There was nothing personal about their battle. They were both simply Demonstrators, and he’d proven to be an amazing combatant - intelligent, and agile for his size. 

“Why?” Selke whispered. 

Togoran’s dark eyes opened. “It is...my debt,” he rasped. 

The media drone pulled in and amplified its microphone. 

She disregarded it. “What debt?”

He grimaced from pain and pressed his hand over the wound as his eyes shifted to the human. “You remember.”

His jaw slacked slightly from recognition. Yune couldn’t forget that incident from four years ago even if he tried. He hadn’t narrowed down who this Erlox was until this moment, and it was a meeting he was unprepared for. He nodded once. “Yeah. I remember.”

Togoran looked once more to Selke. “I could not...let you win, but I could not let you lose...or die.”

She realized this man could have ended the match at any time. Not only could he outsmart her, and out weigh her, but he out skilled her. “You kept it at a stalemate until the end.”

Togoran grunted a soft affirmative. 

The medical team rushed in, and quickly but carefully secured the burly, grey-skinned fighter to a hover gurney. 

He looked Yune in the eye. “My debt is paid: a life for a life.”

Yune accepted it with a slow nod of thanks and respect. 

His hand slipped back to his side and he looked to Selke again. “Strong warrior. I would fight you again,” the words were heavy with respect, and let everyone within earshot know that he would never forget her, or this match. He rested his massive boulder of a hand gently over her entire forearm. 

She understood, and nodded. The sheer intensity in his eyes spoke volumes. He wanted her to use her strength as a warrior to protect her family. She would do so with her life. 

The medic pushed the gurney with the wounded warrior back to the medical ward.

It took a few moments for the disgraced businessman to find his voice and bring his double-vision back to focus. “I’ve won, Darrak,” Mougru slurred as the Mik 

“If it helps you sleep at night,” Yune brushed his proclamation to the side and holstered his weapon. 

Mougru, eyed the media drone and growled as he struggled against his binds. A pure look of disdain crossed Mougru’s face. “I wouldn’t be so smug in your assumed unscathed victory if I were you.”

“Shut up,” security bound his hands behind his back. “You’ll have plenty of time to talk once the Conglomerate gets ahold of you.”

“On what charges?”

“Attempted murder of alien minors, premature dissolvement of a contract, extortion, blatant misconduct in both negotiations and business practices, blackmail, theft… I’m sure they can think of a few more.”

  The look of defeat washed over his face. Mougru’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.

“Get him out of my sight,” the security guard scowled. 

“No!” he fought as they dragged him toward the door. “No, you don’t understand! I did it for Gaumaron! For our people!”

The media drone followed Mougru and Wedrey in wrist binders, with Yune and Selke behind. 

Selke exhaled. The pain from her wounds began to catch up to her. Finally, this nightmare was over. “Let’s find the kids and go home.”

“If you mean the human boy and girl, they’re waiting in custody downstairs for stealing a cargo sled,” the head of the security team explained.

“I’m sorry, what?” Yune blinked. 

“The fine’s already been paid. If they break the rules again, there might not be a family friend around to bail them out,” the gaumori security guard chastised. 

Both looked to each other. They didn’t have a family friend on the station, or in this sector.

Will and Terra’s eyes lit up at the sight of their aunt and uncle. They broke away from the security watching them and flew into their caretakers’ arms. 

Security ushered the two Gaumori along.

If Mougru’s eyes were weapons, he would shred the happy reunion scene to microscopic bits. The Traitor of Gaumaron deserved to suffer, not hold her loved ones close. It wasn’t fair. Still, he knew she would experiencing his pain of loss soon. 

Instead of continuing to fight, Mougru broke into a low chuckle. “This isn’t over, Kellnaris.”

He activated a small ring device on his right wrist. A shifting vapor surrounded his body. As it phased around him in airy blue ribbons that looked like they were caught in the wind. 

The opacity of Mougru’s body faded away like a ghost until it vanished in a flash of blue light. 

Everyone in the room, and all who watched through the media drone were dumbstruck. 

There was no known technology that could cause someone to disappear.

Only Wedrey cried out in abandonment rage. Mougru had left him behind to face judgement alone. 

“Everyone saw that, right?” Will uttered to the room, who looked like they had all seen a ghost. “Just making sure.”

Mougru’s strange escape struck a familiar ring to Terra, like she had seen it and felt it before. 

Will glanced to her, then back. She looked like she wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words to explain it. She was exhausted.

“Detain his ship!” the head of this security barked the order through his com unit to the docking bay. 

[It’s gone, sir. It left five minutes ago.]

“Then send scouts out to scour the field. They will still be in the vicinity.” He looked to Yune and Selke and the children, then switched channels on his com. “Nolgli to Hanok. Reimburse Yune Darrak for his negotiation time.”

[Sir? Re-reimburse?] the officer’s voice quivered in an abashed tone of disbelief, like he’d just been shown proof that the galaxy was flat and riding the back of a massive spiral shell tortoise. 

“Do it.”

[...Yes, sir.]

He turned to Yune. “We’ll have a Federation mark chip waiting for you at your docking bay. Mougru and Wedrey have disgraced our time honored traditions, and will be captured. Our apologies for the strife their vengeance brought upon your family.” 

Yune wanted to punch him for assuming he could soothe this wound with money and mere words but he kept his mouth shut. 

“As for you,” the security head turned to Selke. “You gave the station a rousing demonstration they won’t soon forget. Many will always view you as a traitor. However, you destroyed a Xox scar, and the Conglomerate’s decision on that incident stands. To those that ship terrorized, you are a hero.” He offered her a small smile, and left.

Yune looked to the remaining security, who all stood down and returned to their duties. That struck me as weird. He thought for sure they would question himself, Selke, and the children, but oddly they simply let them be. It felt forced, but he wasn’t going to argue. They needed to high-tail it off the station before any Regents showed up, and he wasn’t going to question this stroke of luck. 

He picked up his niece with hardly any effort as she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on his shoulder - in much the same way she had when he'd rescued her from the Regents. He could tell by the way she relaxed that she finally felt her nightmare had ended. 

“Let’s go home.”

 

* * * *

Mougru’s ship, the Kor Mal, lingered completely shut down within the shadow of a large asteroid, using the mineral deposits to hide their vessel from passing Regent ships. 

Mougru’s lip pulled upward in disgust as another Masakan Federation scout sailed by. They were undoubtedly searching for them, as news of their attempted murder of two Masakan Federation offspring would have surely been sent to Starpost Fourty-Seven. If Wedrey told them about the REM transportation system after Mougru left him stranded on the outpost, then he was now on the Regent’s ‘most wanted’ list among many criminals - including Kellnaris and Darrak for whatever they had done to incur the Federation’s wrath. He would need to learn of that reason.

Kellnaris and Darrak would receive his final message soon. That alone gave him solace. 

Vorim entered the oval-shaped bridge with a datadot in hand and offered it to his Phummon. “Ular is recovering. I’ve analyzed the data from the holding cell’s monitor and found something you should see.”

He snatched it from his subordinate’s hand. Though once he got a look at the image, his sullen demeanor changed to curiosity and confusion. He linked the datadot to the bridge’s ops console and pulled up the video feed onto the main viewer. What he saw left him momentarily speechless.

Both of the girl’s palms, and even her feet, lit up with brief but very noticeable blue light. Each impact left impressions of various depths in the wall. Her limbs were slim, her body was small and lithe, and yet each impact appeared to be made with the strength of a razorboar from his home planet. 

He froze the image at the apex of the electrified orb in her palm just as she was about to launch it into the wall.  “What is this?” he whispered. 

“The computer isolated it as a bio-electrical discharge, similar to that of a fire eel,” he reference one of their homeworld’s common aquatic lifeforms. “It’s not just the female,” Vorim fast forwarded to the moment Will used his power to over charge the battery. “Analysis of the impact site shows the ephypsan particles became highly agitated to an unheard of level.”

“He used the power cell as a bomb? How?”

“There is something else,” he scanned forward to the point where Will transferred a fair amount of energy to Terra - enough to enter the visible light spectrum - seconds before they ran from the perforated room. He paused the image on that moment. 

“She took it.” Stunned, Mougru stood from the Phummon’s chair and approached the screen. “They never had a concealed weapon at all.” His mouth twitched upward at this fantastic discovery. “They _are_ weapons.”

“We have nothing in our database regarding humans possessing this ability.”

“Then they’re not mere humans.” The gears clicked away, unfolding various plots, and means of revenge. The implications of using these children for his own means danced in his imagination. 

Worry laced Vorim’s words. He knew what his employer was thinking, “What of the tertiary plan?”

“It can’t be helped. She will suffer, but not nearly as deeply as she should. Have the computer check every known intelligent species for anything resembling this phenomenon.”

“Yes, Phummon.”

Mougru waited until Vorim left him alone on the small bridge. He zoomed in on Will’s hand lit with ribbons of smooth energy, then leaned on the console, eyeing the screen like a predator marking its target. Whatever these beings were, he would find out, and then enact the perfect revenge on Kellnaris and her family.

* * * *

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #25 -  
> Yune and Selke will not kill unless they have absolutely no choice, and no other options.


	26. And Unexpected Turn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they're leaving Outpost 23, the Horizon is forced to turn back into the asteroid field to escape the Regents. While hiding out, they encounter creatures that put them between a rock and a hard place.

The Horizon blasted away from Outpost Twenty-Three’s lower docking bay toward the outer edge of the asteroid field with the heat of an egg yolk on summer pavement. 

Selke tucked an already-asleep Terra into bed. She kissed the small girl lovingly on her forehead, turned off the lights, and closed the door. Finally, her niece could regain her strength. 

Yune could handle gliding around these hunks of rock like a zeebi in currents, so she wasn’t concerned. Her worry lay with the children who had once again been used as pawns. 

Her next stop was the bridge, but once she reached the stairs, she spotted the boy standing at the wide observation window of the lounge watching the ship maneuver through the mess of asteroids. His socks and shoes were discarded by the couch. She knew both kids felt more comfortable barefoot, but after what he’d been through, she’d assumed he would relish the chance to rest in his own bed. 

Instead, he stood here, staring out into the field with his feet shoulder width apart and arms loose at his sides, almost like he was rooting himself to the deck plating to reconnect to the ship - to where he belonged, and where he felt safe. That’s when it hit her: he was resting. This was just his way of doing it. He needed to feel completely at home.

She moved briefly to her cabin to collect a shoulder bag and brought it into the lounge, though lingered in silence for a moment. 

Will’s senses pinged that he was being watched. With his uncle at the helm, and Terra fast asleep, it could only be one person. “I hate him,” he bit in soft staccato speech. He inhaled shakily and swallowed hard, pulling on his bravery to stay strong. “I hate what he did to Terra. I hate that he did this to me; made me afraid like this,” he balled up his fists, tense from his rampant thoughts. He hadn’t entertained the real possibility of losing Terra in the past couple of years, but now the hard reality set in and it was all he could think about. “I wanna hurt him. I want him to pay. It wasn’t right. We did nothing. You did nothing. Why did this happen?”

“People blinded by their demons can rarely see another path.”

He locked his jaw, to keep his emotions where he could manage them. “You’re not gonna tell me I shouldn’t hate him?” he said through gritted teeth.

“Oh no. I’m right there with you. I loathe the little worm,” she agreed. “I wanted to kick his ass into the sun, but Yune got to him before I did,” she tried to steer away his anger. Mougru had chosen the road of revenge. She didn’t want her nephew to do the same. “I’m not going to tell you not to hate him. You’ll feel what you’ll feel regardless of what I say. What he did to you and Terra is unforgivable. It can’t be ignored or brushed aside. You need to recognize this anger exists and accept it so it doesn’t tear you apart inside. Then come to terms with what happened to you, and defeat it. You have control over this.”

He snorted. “Yeah, right. I don’t have control over anything. I never did.”

“You rescued Terra where we failed.” 

“It’s only because of this,” a glimmer of blue light illuminated the lines of his right palm for a brief second. “Without it, we’d be…” he didn’t want to say ‘dead,’ but he didn’t have to. “I’m too weak. I can’t even fight.”

“You figured out a way to create control where it was stolen from you. Not everyone can do that, regardless of your power. She would have died if it weren’t for you.”

“She wouldn’t have been kidnapped at all if it weren’t for me!” He was tired, on edge, air scraped against his dry throat, and his mind was recovering. “We got into a fight, and she ran away. This wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t fight. We could have stayed together and...and...” he said to his transparent reflection in remorse. A shuddered exhale left him.  

“It would have happened no matter what you did,” she stepped up beside him and said low with regret, “You got caught in my past, and I’m sorry.”

He huffed a quick, irritated sigh. 

“But,” she paused, “you handled it well, like... like an Indiana,” she tried to reassure him.

He knew what she was trying to say, and her misunderstanding of his young childhood hero’s name made him laugh. “Yeah, well Indiana wouldn’t have screwed up as hard as I did.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know him, but I know you.” She moved to his right so he could easily look up at her and spoke in a parental motion of love an approval. “And you were incredibly brave today, Will. I am so very proud of you.”

He gave a very slight smile of acceptance. Hearing that meant a lot. 

“And that reminds me...”

He turned slightly to glance up into her green eyes. He expected a talk about how important he and Terra were to the galaxy again, and how their safety was paramount. He was getting tired of hearing it. He almost wanted to run headfirst into danger just to rebel against that expectation. 

She stood straight. “As soon as things are back to normal, I’m going to teach you two how to fight.”

He wasn’t prepared for that. “I’m sorry, what?”

“You want to learn how to defend yourself, don’t you?” 

“I...u-uh...yeah, of course I do.”

“Then it’s time you learned to do so.” Their lives would only become more complicated from here on out. They will be filled with years of hiding, secrecy, fabrications, and running. She wanted him to understand that who and what he and Terra are meant they needed to protect themselves without revealing their secrets, or counting on herself and Yune to rescue them. She knew full well she and her husband wouldn’t always be around to protect them - and today proved that. Eventually, they would need to protect each other on their own. They needed control over their own lives. And the voice that fueled her resolve in the arena made it clear that it was her job to make sure they could survive without them. Although she yearned for that reality to remain far in the future - to always have these children with her - she knew they couldn’t avoid its inevitable arrival. 

Will blinked. “Seriously? You’re going to teach us to fight like you?”

She nodded. “We’ll talk about it later,” she eased through a disarming smile. “For now, get some water, and get some rest. You’ve been through a lot.” 

He nodded. His head did feel a little heavy, and even though he’d already had a cup of water right after he got home, his throat still felt dry. 

It was then he noticed the bag slung over her shoulder. He glanced up at her, then to the bag. “Where’d you get that?”

She realized that he seemed to recognize it, and offered it to him. “One of the security officers handed it to me before we departed. Said to give it to you. Do you know anything about this?”

He took it, confused as to why its owner would give it up. “Yeah. It’s Meora’s.”

“Meora?”

“This felorian I met. Kinda weird. She helped me.” 

“A weird felorian,” her suspicions from her own experiences began to form. From his expression, his story went far deeper than a simple meeting. “I’d like to know more of her and what happened to you, including how you got this,” she reached out to the cut on his chin, “if you’ll tell me.”

He nodded. 

“Let’s get that taken care of,” she began to turn him toward medbay, but he shook his head. 

“No. I want to keep it.”

“Why?”

“I want a scar...so I don’t ever forget.”

She didn’t know if he could scar anymore since his fusion with the Altair DNA. Neither child had been injured enough for them to notice any significant amplified healing ability. Minor cuts and bruises healed at a normal rate with medicinal aid. And she wasn’t going to put either of them through any tests to find out if they actually had advanced cellular regeneration. Trying to imagine what the Regent scientists would have done to them put a sour taste in her mouth. 

However, she understood where he came from, and respected his decision. She smiled caringly, happy that he was safe, and left for the bridge. 

Will opened the bag, expecting to find a datadot, or lipstick, or whatever Felorian women kept in their purses. Instead, he found something that made him smile from the warmth of nostalgia. 

Inside the bag were the worn, off-white sneakers with the red swoosh.

Meora had given him back part of the home planet he would never see again. 

* * * *

Selke walked into the cockpit and leaned heavily over the back of the occupied pilot’s chair. “Thank Shora we’re off that rock. I want to get as far away from here as possible.” She wrapped her arms down over Yune’s chest, then gestured lazily to the viewport and said, “Set a course for the other side of the galaxy at FTL five.”

“Aye, aye, Captain. The Far Reaches at full blast it is,” Yune replied in a jovial manner to lighten her mood. “How are Sparky and Squeaker?”

She moved smoothly to the copilot’s seat. “Terra’s practically in a coma, and Will’s in the lounge trying to shoulder all the blame. I talked to him. He’ll probably fall asleep on the couch like usual.” 

Yune calmly piloted the ship between the drifting asteroids. “It’s going to take them a while to recover from this. Remember how they were after Marci and Friends paid us a visit?” 

“They went back to sleeping in the same cabin for two weeks.” The two children were afraid another Night Wraith raiding party would attack. It took them a long time to trust that they were safe in their own home again.

“Odds are pretty good they’ll have a repeat performance.”

“I don’t blame them,” Selke’s voice dipped to a somber whisper. “We almost lost them today, Yune. Were it not for Will, we would have. We failed them,” she exhaled. 

He understood, and empathised. Even with his old team, he hadn’t feared for anyone’s lives as much as he feared for theirs. “I want to talk to them later; find out their stories.”

She planted her hand on his head. “I’ll fill you in on my end,” she rubbed at the psionic inhibitor at her right temple. “Now get this thing off me before I rip it off.”

He took her hand in his and kissed it. She had told him that trying to remove the inhibitor caused severe headaches and nausea, so if she ripped it off, it might cause brain damage. 

They cleared the asteroid field in ten minutes. Yune set the ship on autopilot and walked with her to the medical bay. It was the first time in years Selke had sat on the medical bed as a patient. She laid down so he could use the arm scanner slid up from the underside of the bed over her head. 

It gave him a detailed breakdown of the round device. It’s single, tiny green led fluctuated, showing it was active. He made note of the connection nodes, and his own technical knowledge gave him an idea of how to safely remove it. 

He put the sliding scanner arm back and she sat up. 

Yune removed a small, handheld medical tool from the drawer, clicked it on so a soft blue light illuminated the fine tip. He placed his hand gently to the side of her head to help steady himself and held the tool up to the inhibitor. “Hold still.” He worked carefully to ensure he could disconnect it from her neural pathways without harming her.

“Do you know what you’re doing?”

“No,” he mused in concentration, then smirked to lighten the sudden heavy trepidation from her. 

Disrupting the signal proved to be faster than he’d anticipated. 

The light winked off and the nodes disconnected. It easily detached from her skin.

As soon as he removed the psionic inhibitor, the world surged back to Selke’s senses. She sighed happily and massaged the sore spot on her temple. Yune’s presence, and those of Will and Terra’s flowed to her in a beautiful swell of color and sight, returning the monochrome world to life. Everything, including the Horizon, felt real again. It was wonderful, light, and freeing. “Thank you.” She caressed his face, feeling the stubble of his five-o’clock shadow beneath her palm. It helped to reaffirm that he was here, instead of like looking at a holographic image.  “I missed you.”

He ran his fingers gently through her hair. “I haven’t gone anywhere.” The way she looked at him now was with pure relief and love. 

“For a while… you did.” She slid off the bed and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. Though they had worked together off and on for five years after the team split up, she had always known he was out here, and somehow still alive. She’d had no idea that being unable to sense his presence at all would cause such a profound pain of true loss. 

Yune kissed her forehead and held her. He exhaled slowly, relieved that she was here, out of that situation, and safe on his ship. He came far too close to losing his entire family in a short time, and he hated that he’d been oblivious to their struggles until the end. He knew they would face dangers, but the thought of losing any of them cut through his heart. 

They lingered in this moment for as long as they dared, locking it into their lives. 

He let her go and offered up the small tech in his palm. “You sure you don’t want to keep this?”

“What for?” she eyed it with venomous disgust.

“A memento of your time fighting an Erlox twice your size and almost winning?” he joked.

She, however, wasn’t in the mood for jokes. This device was specifically designed for felorian biology. It wouldn’t work on other beings that didn’t produce isetyline. Having this attached to her was like someone draping a cloth over her eyes - she could sense the world, but only barely. “Technology like this shouldn’t exist. It’s only purpose is for torture. Fry it.”

Yune set it on the floor, removed his pulse pistol from its holster, and fired a clean, precise, blue shot at the device. It burst into bits.

A beeping notification alarm sounded from the wall console on the opposite side of the door. Yune quickly tapped on it to shut the proximity notification off. “We’ve got company.”

The two ran back to the bridge.

Yune slid easily into the pilot’s seat and pulled up the sensor grid showing multiple red blips entering the field. Their transponder signals registered their affiliation clearly. “Regents.”

“Five cruisers?”

“They must have sent half the ships stationed at the starbase.” 

She growled. “Mougru.” He probably sent them a message to come get Selke as soon as she’d lost the match. “He knew the Regents were after us.”

“Did he know why?”

“No. He couldn’t get that information. Tell me you got the new ident code?”

“I didn’t have time.”

She swore. “So all we have are new problems.” 

The large Regent cruisers were far enough out that they had a small window to avoid a firefight. Yune grasped that chance in both hands. “I got an idea.” He turned the ship around back into the asteroid field. 

“What are you doing?”

“Taking notes from Sparky and Squeaker.” He maneuvered the ship quickly between the floating rocks. “The larger cruisers won’t be able to follow us,” but the smaller starships and scouts they sent in could take the risk. “Wake ‘em up.”

“Terra needs rest. She’s so out of it, she’ll probably sleep through a fight.”

“I need them strapped in in case we need to make a run for it. Wake ‘em up.”

Selke ran up to deck three to rouse both children. Will got up easily from the couch, but it took a few light shakes to pull Terra from the grip of a deep sleep. 

She whined and groaned in drowsy rebellion, but dragged herself out of bed and slogged after her twin, rubbing her eyes and shuffling her feet. As soon as she got to the bridge, she flopped into the ops chair behind the copilot. “I almost died today. Can’t I just sleep?”

“I know it’s rough, Squeaker, but I need you to stay strong a little longer,” Yune said.

She secured the straps at her chest with a ‘click’, pulled her feet up in a plaintive whine, and rested her head on her knees. Her body hurt. Her own energy wasn’t anywhere near its normal level yet. 

“What’s going on?” Will yawned. 

Yune didn’t answer immediately as he brought the ship around the back side of a larger, slowly rotating asteroid toward the middle of the field. He checked the sensor readings on the material makeup within the rock. “We’re playing a little hide and seek with the Regents.”

“Regents?” Will’s eyes shot open in fear. “They’re here?”

Terra suddenly found herself awake and now on edge. “How did they find us?”

“They haven’t yet.”Yune slowed to a stop, turned the ship ninety degrees, and landed at the bottom of a small crater. He powered down the Horizon. The bridge lit with dim red emergency lighting as the ship existed in stand-by mode only. Their position gave them a panoramic view of the field lazily drifting by. 

Small silvery ships in the distance caught the sun’s light on their backs and flickered like wicked stars. Their engines burned blue from ephypsan particle powered drives.

“This isn’t hiding,” Terra stated in panic, “We’re out in the open!”

“Not to their scanners we’re not. Thanks to all the uranium deposits, we look just like another bump on the ground,” 

Selke already understood Yune’s reasoning once she realized he’d been choosing a prime spot to lay low. “The asteroids in this field are filled with this stuff. It causes sensor interference if you get too close. Don’t worry. We’re invisible.”

“As long as they don’t look out their window,” Terra grumped, still hugging her knees.

“Try to be a little optimistic here,” Yune side swept his remark back to his exhausted niece.

Will looked up through the viewport at the field. One of the smaller cruisers drifted into view like a slowly circling shark. He wanted to duck down behind the pilot’s seat and hide, as if the Regents could do as Terra suggested and look through the window to see him staring back. 

“How long are we gonna sit here?” he asked. 

“Until they give up,” Terra squeaked. She felt the same as her other half. 

“They won’t give up,” Yune shook his head. “These are Regents. They don’t know the meaning of the phrase.” They knew the Horizon was at the outpost, and Yune knew they would extrapolate how long it would take to leave the field if they got ahold of the docking bay departure records - which if they were smart, they would. Their sensors would have picked them up as soon as they existed the field, and since they would detect a jump point on their sensors, the natural conclusion would be to assume the Horizon still lurked in the field.

Will’s jaw dropped. “So...so how are we gonna get outta here?”

“I’m working on that.”

“See?” a very tired Terra gestured to her uncle, “I told you your plans are like his.”

He glanced back, a little confused and insulted, He sent his next statement to his wife, “She really is like you when you’re tired.”

Selke smirked. He wasn’t wrong. “We could use the scrambler as we leave.”

“Nah, that won’t buy us enough time. Squeaker’s right. All they have to do it look out the window once we clear, and they’ll be on us like falgamites on a thwip’s back.”

“What?” Will glanced to Terra, who shrugged. Neither of them understood the reference. But she grinned, happy her uncle said she was right.

“We need something else on top of that. I’m open to suggestions.”

Will slipped easily between the two seats and pointed out the window at the surface...or rather at a massive caterpillar clinging to the asteroid with twelve stubby legs on each side of its body. It’s dark grey bulk was covered in short spines and pockmarked with green, slimey holes that opened periodically to release gas and rock fragments. “What is that?”

“It’s a Ceenak,” Selke answered casually. 

“That thing you were talking about before? Where you said felorians get mycathist from?” Terra asked. 

“That’s right,” she said.

“They’re huge,” Will stared in awe. The one closest to them looked girthy enough to swallow the Horizon whole. 

“They get bigger than that. I’m surprised we didn’t anger the whole nest when we landed.” Selke sent an accusatory look to Yune regaridng his decision. 

“Back up. We’re in a nest?” Will’s adrenaline shot up. 

The ship sat in the middle of a small swarm of six of the massive vacuum-dwelling creatures ranging from youths to adults, all grazing slowly along the floor like cattle. Occasionally, one would let out a seismic wave that would break up the immediate area along its path so it could better eat the rock. Two of them began to burrow new holes into the crater. 

The seismic waves and burrowing actions caused the ship to tremble from the vibrations. 

“They’re gonna eat us!” Will panicked.

Yune caught him when the tremor knocked the kid off balance, and urged him to sit down. “They’re not gonna eat us. Ceenak don’t eat ships. They eat rock. A smaller asteroid didn’t make this crater.” 

Will got the hint that he needed to strap into a chair, but he was too curious about them to comply. “Where are its eyes?”

“They don’t need eyes,” Selke explained. “They see in a different way.”

“Like echolocation?” Terra wondered, “like space dolphins?”

“More like blind space cows.” 

Will’s fear level abated as his curiosity rose. “Cool. I like cows. So we’re safe?”

“Yeah, they’re harmless,” Yune nodded slightly. “Unless they think we’re a threat, then they’ll crush us like a bug.”

Will’s eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.  

“We’re fine as long as we don’t make any sudden moves.”

They held the silence for a long moment and watched the ceenak lumber lethargically along the surface.

Selke’s need to know about her husband’s past urged her to break that silence. “What happened back there five years ago, Yune? Why did Togoran owe you a debt?” 

“Really? You want to talk about this now?” 

She gave him a ‘yes, now’ look that he didn’t want to fight.

“End notes are, I was finishing up a job here, things went a little...wrong, I got sent to the arena, and ended up saving his brother’s life.” He glanced over to her at his right. He waited a moment, expecting her to respond in kind with her own story, but when she remained tight lipped about it, he prodded her. “Well? I showed you mine, you show me yours. That’s how this works.”

“Ew!” Will and Terra both looked disgusted.

“Oh come on,” he rolled his eyes. 

Selke found the stats on the modified coridium injector for the core more interesting at that moment. “I’d rather not talk about it right now.”

“You’re kidding me, right? Every gaumori in that arena considered you a traitor.”

“I worked hard to put that behind me.”

“We’re in this entire situation because of this. It involves all of us.” 

“My end notes are complicated. I’ll tell you later.”

“That’s not fair.”

“I promise I’ll tell you the whole story when we’re not facing death.”

That was the best he was going to get. “I’m gonna make sure we get outta here just so I can hold you to that.”

She checked their sensors, but the asteroid’s uranium deposits played the same interference game with them as it did with the Regents. Getting out of here would be a game of guesswork and timing.

A duo of Regent single-seat scouts flew over.   
Two of the ceenak angled their heads upward and opened their mouths to send out a sonic wave and get a look at the intruders. When the ships moved out of sight, they continued rock grazing as if it never happened. 

Any one of these creatures could make a snap decision that the Horizon didn’t belong there, and the whole colony would band together to make sure the vessel never left the asteroid again in one piece.

A thick, tension-filled silence settled in the dimly-lit cockpit. 

The sound of soft munching cracked through it and drew everyone’s attention to Yune. He had pulled out a cookie from his hidden stash near the bottom of his seat. 

He paused at the looks. “What? This is a stressful situation.”

Selke shook her head, but Will just stared.

He offered the kid a cookie. “Want one?”

Will took it and munched.

Terra yawned. Despite the impending doom from both the searching Regent forces and the giant ceenak, her exhaustion’s demand overpowered her will power. To stay awake and calm, she began humming one of the songs from her music player.

“Terra, please, we need to think,” Selke ordered in a gentle manner.

Will had heard his twin do this before, and he had used the same tactic many times. “She’s trying to focus on something else to keep from feeling afraid.”

“I know,” Selke said, “but--”

“No, no, no,” Yune held up one finger to indicate he was thinking, and paused to let the idea work through in his head. “She may be onto something. What was that song you were singing? The Hot Girls one?”

“Spice Girls,” She corrected him. She was too tired to say much else. 

“Do it again,”

Terra hummed two measures of the chorus. 

“That’s it.” Struck with an idea, Yune got up, kissed his niece on top of her head, “Squeaker, you’re a genius,” and started typing on the console in front of the small girl, spinning her chair slightly so he could reach it. 

“Ok,” she yawned in a sing-song, instant acceptance manner. At this point in her fatigue, she would agree to anything. She watched her uncle’s hands fly over the controls, bringing up the sensor grid - which showed random static readings - and then a number of communications and programming screens to which he typed in code. 

Thankfully, Will was awake to ask for her. “Why is she a genius?”

“Because if they can’t see us, they’re listening for us. Why do you think I powered down to emergency levels?”

“They can hear us?” Will couldn’t see how that would be possible.

“Yup. The Horizon’s a loud girl. I’ve made modifications to keep her quiet, but there’s only so much you can do to muffle a Mercury class - especially one with these light years on it,” he patted the upper part of the console with tender care, “no offense, baby.” 

Terra’s eyesight blurred from fatigue, but even if she were clear-headed and high on caffeine, she wouldn’t understand one increment of information on the screen - except for when he pulled up her playlist stored in the ship’s computer. The titles were in Masakan instead of English. Thankfully, after living here for almost three years, she and Will had learned to read, write, and speak fluently in Maskan - finishing their linguistic training the Regents started. They were also partly fluet in Yune’s specific Mikran dialect of the galaxy’s most basic language. It was important for when they ran across aliens who did not use universal translators, though most could understand Masakan. 

Yune finished his program, then sat back in the pilot’s seat and called up the new file converted into a subspace transmission. “We need them to focus on something other than us long enough for us to blast our buttcheeks out of this field.” 

“The second we leave, we’ll be swarmed,” Selke argued. 

“Do you have another idea? Make it fast before these guys decide they don’t want us crashing on their front lawn.” 

The bridge remained quiet. 

The ceenak ahead of them turned its bulbous head to ‘look’ at the ship. It opened its mouth and flared four long slits in the front of its face like it was sniffing the air - or lack thereof. Its curiosity sated, it went back to grazing. 

“I’ve got one, but you’re not going to like it,” Selke stood and left the cockpit.

“Oh no. Don’t do what I think you’re gonna do,” Yune called back. 

“What’s she gonna do?” Will asked. 

Yune gestured out the window. “One-up me on crazy ideas.” 

Selke sealed herself in the rings of a spacesuit, depressurised the cargo bay, and lowered the ramp. Her mag boots created enough gravity to let her bounce slowly across the dusty surface. 

“She’s going near it?” Terra was up from her seat in a heartbeat, and all three of them were now watching Selke approach the ceenak. Her small body seemed like an aunt approaching someone’s shoe in comparison. 

He opened a com link to her suit. “Selke, If this goes south in any way, I’m tractoring you out of there and shooting a bolt right up it’s--”

[I can sense your animosity, and it’s not helping.]

Worry creased his face. All snarkiness and joking aside, he spoke into the com with pure concern for the woman he loved. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”

That love replaced the nervousness she’d felt before, and she held onto it. A breath shuddered past her lips in trepidation. After suffering through suppression for so long, she didn’t know if her mind had recovered enough to make and keep such a delicate, difficult connection. If she were too weak to form a link with this creature, then it would retaliate by sending a distress signal to the nest, attack her, and obliterate the ship with everyone onboard. [So do I.]

Selke took a deep breath, exhaled, and leaped upward. She caught hold of a short spine sticking out among thousands on its body, and carefully worked her way over to its face. 

She was harmless to it, so it didn’t bother to remove her in any way. 

Slowly and cautiously, she reached out and placed her gloved palm against its hard skin, holding onto a maneuvering spike with her free hand, and closed her eyes. She had only done this once before and it worked. There was no guarantee it would work again. She needed to be focused, to be still in her mind, spirit, and heart. That wasn’t easy when the emotions of her family were close enough to touch. 

The crew of the Horizon watched in anticipation. 

“What is she doing?” Terra whispered as Will sat in the copilot’s seat to get a better view. 

“Talking to it,” Yune answered softly. 

“Talking to it?”

“Felorians have this way they can connect to the mind of one of those things. It’s mostly just images. Ceenak nests share a hive mind, that’s why they lure one away to contact it alone. It’s weird, but it works.”

“Has she ever done this before?” Will dared.

“Once.”

“Did it work?” she asked.

“It...could have gone better.” He wasn’t going to elaborate and tell the kids that the last time, Selke had failed to keep a ceenak calm while he went in to retrieve a mycathist gem from its stomach, and the creature took off with him still inside it. It mixed in with other ceenak, and she’d lost it. She found it several hours later thanks to Yune modifying his com to emit a strong pulse that would pass through the elements within the ceenak’s thick hide blocking communications signals. He had tried to use the mycathist to contact her, but only managed to focus enough to send her a status image of where he was, and that he was alive. Both let her track down the errant creature. She had successfully reconnected to it, and Yune was able to escape - albeit with a few new nightmares. She had told him she didn’t know how he was able to use the deposit when only felorians could initiate the contact. He blamed it on just getting lucky. 

“Is it talking back? I wish I could hear what they’re saying.” Terra wanted to know everything. She had asked her aunt about her abilities before, but it was still a mystery. 

“I’m sure it’s a riveting conversation,” Will joked.

Yune didn’t dare contact her over the com again to avoid potentially breaking her concentration, but he did keep his hand near the weapons trigger.

The ceenak reared up, landed hard, and let out a bass sound so low, it wasn’t heard so much as felt. It pulsed through the ship and everyone in it. 

Selke held on. “Please...” Her eyes shot open. “No!”

The ground beneath the ship suddenly ruptured from a massive seismic jolt, and crumbled beneath the landing struts of the Horizon. 

Everyone inside the cockpit screamed in surprise as the ship dropped with bits of rock into the new hole. 

The ship scraped along one side, then the other, and landed hard on the floor of a long tunnel. The lights died completely, flickered, then came back on. 

Yune quickly activated the maneuvering thrusters to lift the ship off the ground. He turned on the floodlight beneath the bridge. They lit up the rock blocking the way they’d come in.

“You guys ok?” he checked with the two kids. 

They nodded, though shaken up.

Selke’s voice crackled over the com in pure concern. [Yune! Are you alright?]

He opened the channel. “We’re good. It was a cave-in. What about you?”

[That wasn’t a cave-in. They did that deliberately. You need to find a way out of there now.]

“This wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t go out there,” he argued.

[Wanna try that again? This nest has had plenty of bad experiences with ships from the outpost. They were just waiting to see if we would leave on our own. When we didn’t, one of them sent the signal to converge. I’m going to try to connect one more time to convince it we’re not a threat.]

“Selke--”

[Yune, shut up and let me do this.] 

He sighed, but reluctantly agreed, “Ok. We’ll find a way out and meet you back on the surface.” He looked back to assure his two paled passengers, “We’re ok. No need to panic.”

He turned the ship to let the lights illuminate their new location, searching for an exit point. It brushed its yellow/white beam across the dark red surface of the cavern. 

Four nostril slits, and a ceenak head two times the size of the one Selke connected with filled their view. 

Yune’s heart dropped in his stomach. “Ok, maybe there’s need to panic.” 

It opened its mouth, letting out a sonar wave that lit up the ship to its senses as though in perfect daylight. 

The wave impacted the ship like someone had swung a hammer into it. All three of them saw teeth illuminated by the headlight, and darkness beyond.

Will and Terra screamed.

“Nope.” Yune spun the ship around and took off into the snaking cave. The titan ceenak gave chase. “Selke, I hate to interrupt your one-on-everyone conversation, but we have a tiny problem.”

“Tiny?!” Will blurted out.

Another ceenak - smaller only relative in size to the behemoth chasing them - shot up from the ground beneath them. Yune banked the ship sideways to barely avoid it, the rock it dislodged, and dodged to the right into a wide cavern. 

Selke’s soft voice sounded like she was in a trance, but came over the com clearly. [Stop the ship.]

“Stopping: bad. Flying: good.” Yune wouldn’t have entertained that idea if his own mother had suggested it. 

Three more blocked the nearest exit, forcing him to turn around, only the titan made it impossible to backtrack. Multiple creatures crawled along the rock around them. They were trapped, and screwed.

[That’s the queen of this nest. She brought you to her,]  

“She couldn’t come up to see us?” Yune quipped as he tried to figure out a way out of this. “Rude.”

[Do not move.]

Then again, his mother’s thoughts weren’t woven into the hive mind of a ceenak nest, either. Yune slowed the ship and turned around to face the creature. It was already uncomfortably close. It could have taken out the ship at any moment, but it seemed to have simply followed them instead of attacking. Now, it lingered painfully near the cockpit viewport. 

[Trust me.]

“We’ll be eaten if we don’t move!” Will cried. 

[Will...] 

He swallowed hard, unable to blink or tear his eyes away from the nightmare filling this tunnel. “Yeah?”

[Show her your power. Terra, too, if she’s strong enough.]

“Huh? Why?”

[She needs to know who you are.]

“But how--”

“Better do what she says, Sparky. This is way out of our league.”

Confused, Will held up his right hand and let the altairan energy flow out of his palm in a blue glow. He didn’t form a sphere, but created a flashlight effect instead. 

Terra raised hers to join, but her power flickered. She held it as long as she could before giving up in fatigue. Ten minutes of rest wasn't long enough to regain any of her own energy. Will took her hand in his so she could use his power to join in. 

Their twin lights lit up like stars in the darkness.

The titan ceenak’s mouth opened toward them again.

Will faltered at the sight of thick, numerous teeth capable of crushing rock. He was too afraid to close his eyes. He was sure he was about to never see the stars again. 

Yune’s fingers inched toward the controls for the main guns. 

The behemoth creature sent out a different pulse that rocked the ship and pulsed through everyone within. The Horizon seemed to shudder, as though unnerved. Slowly, it closed its mouth and settled down into the cavern.

The three breathed a sigh of relief. They had survived. 

Yune’s fingers slipped away from the trigger. “See? Told you there was no need to panic.” 

Without warning, the titan ceenak rose up from beneath them. It sent a seismic pulse carving through the rock, crumbling it away to create a new, smaller cave- but boulders were already falling in to fill the gap. 

Seeing their only opportunity, Yune pushed the Horizon through the passage. Small rocks banged against the shields as he twisted the ship out of the way. Seconds later, it blasted upward into the freedom of open space.  

Yune immediately landed the tousled ship close to their original spot and powered down. He prayed the Regents hadn’t noticed them. 

He turned toward his kids. “I guess it liked you.”

“Uh huh yeah…” Will nodded limply with terror stealing most of the sound from his voice.

Selke lowered her hand and severed her link to the young ceenak. She then bowed her head in thanks, and returned to the ship. 

Three completely befuddled faced greeted her as she entered the bridge and motioned Will to return to the chair behind the pilot at tactical. Her smile to her husband only amped up his curiosity. 

“You’re right. I didn’t like that idea.” Yune watched all of the surface creatures slowly start to move at once.

One by one all the ceenak in the crater released their hold on the surface and drifted into space, using the streams of gas and rock from the orifices along their bodies to propel themselves.

Terra watched them lift upward like great grey caterpillar balloons. “Where are they going?”

“Welcome to our distraction,” Selke smiled.

She noted the children’s bewildered expressions, and elaborated. “Ceenak might look mindless, but most of them are intelligent. And some are very old. They remember things the galaxy forgot. I’m lucky I picked one having a good day.”

It took a moment for Yune to process that the titan ceenak - the queen of this nest - remembered the Altair. More importantly, those memories were positive. Which also meant this creature had survived for over two millennia. 

“And you thought my idea was crazy,” Yune eyed her.

“You’re not allowed to have all the crazy on this ship,” she gave a wry smile. 

Fair enough. “Ok,” he wasn’t expecting that turn of events at all, but he wasn’t going to argue with having space tanks on their side. “My turn.”

He waited until one of the Regent ships passed out of sight above the swarm of ceenak to avoid them. Selke’s risk paid off in the form of precious time. The ceenak were giving them a window, “Time to get Spiced,” and sent the transmission. 

“Really?” Selke’s words drolled with lackluster annoyance. “Did you just say that with a straight face?”

“What? Ok, it sounded better in my head.” 

“See?” Will shoved Terra lightly in her shoulder, “stuff sounds better in heads.”

“Nerd,” she shoved him back.

Yune hesitated long enough to give the Regents enough time to open the mail and slowly powered up the systems one by one. 

 

****

The ping of an incoming transmission lit up the ops screen at the head of the bridge beside navigation. “Captain, we’re receiving an audio transmission. It’s being sent to every ship in the vicinity.”

“Source?”

The lieutenant pulled up its identifying transponder code and shock nearly locked up his voice. “It’s from the Horizon.”

This news caused Captain Carlyon to lean forward in his chair in the center of the sleak, brightly-lit, streamlined bridge. He felt relief and excitement that the information on Outpost Twenty-Three’s departure logs was correct. This was the ship the entire Regent space force had been hunting for for close to three years. 

“Maybe they’re finally giving up,” Commander Elys, his enkai XO mused sidelong to her captain and friend at her left. 

“I doubt that.” he replied smoothly. He raised his voice slightly. “Let’s hear it.”

The Lieutenant opened the transmission. 

[ **“YO, I’LL TELL YOU WHAT I WANT, WHAT I REALLY REALLY WANT! (SO TELL ME WHAT YOU WANT, WHAT YOU REALLY REALLY WANT!)”** ] Loud female vocals and a ruckus instrumental beat exploded from speakers on the bridge and every section of the ship. 

Each Regent vessel to open the transmission received the same eardrum- splitting service. 

Everyone covered their ears in pain. 

Commander Elys slammed her palms over her pointed ears. The fine blue and gold, small feathers lining the front of her ears were barely visible. “What is that noise?!”

“Terran music, sir!” the lieutenant shouted over the audio.

“I don’t care what it is!” the Masakan captain barked out, “Turn that damned thing off!”

“I’m trying. They piggybacked a blackout protocol within the file. It’s in every major system.”

“We’ve lost navigation,” the lieutenant next to operations shouted.

“Sensors are down!”

“Get it back!”

The ops officer grimaced as he fought to regain control over the message. He muted the audio, and with quick thinking, was able to get control back and clear up their fuzzed out screens. “Got it. Protocol destroyed.”

Commander Elys rubbed her ears. The so called ‘music’ left a ringing in her sensitive hearing. “Son of a--” The curse that followed was in pure enkai and had no Masakan translation, but was easily understood.

“Sir, I’m detecting a Mikran vessel heading for the perimeter of the asteroid field,” the crewman at tactical reported.

“After it,” Captain Carlyon order. 

An alarm sounded throughout the bridge. “Lieutenant?”

“There’s a swarm of ceenak directly in our path.”

“Evasive maneuvers.” The captain inwardly cursed. It wasn’t in the Regent code to kill innocent, non-aggressive creatures simply existing, and they were the intruders in the ceenak’s habitat. “Where the hell did they all come from? And entire nest doesn’t uproot itself without a reason.”

“He used the music as a distraction, and the ceenak as cover,” the commander noted. “He’s good.”

Captain Carlyon’s eyes narrowed in annoyance. He stood and stepped forward. “Send a message to the nearest ship outside the field to pursue. We can’t let them get away again.”

 

****

“Ah!” A young man in an academy blue and white uniform covered his ears from the loud music. His younger sister beside him did the same and almost dropped her datadot she’d modified herself. 

It ended in seconds, but its sudden nails to his eardrums cause momentary disorientation. Other officers in the hall of the Regent vessel just outside the asteroid field reacted the same way. 

“Was that what I think it was?” the nine year old girl cleaned out her ear with her pinky. 

Before her brother could answer, a lieutenant in a black and blue uniform ran by them. She had checked the source on the console of her engineering station not far from them in the next section. “We found ‘em, kid!” she exclaimed happily as she rushed, grinning with joy. “We’re finally bringin’ ‘em home.”

His jaw slacked. After hunting for the outlaws all these years, they had finally come upon the target they’d been chasing through half the galaxy. 

The girl looked up to her brother. “Are they sure it’s them this time?”

“I hope so.” They had encountered dead ends before. The Mercury class was an extremely common freighter, and were everywhere. He needed to see this with his own eyes. 

The young acting ensign sent his sister back to their quarters and made a beeline straight for the bridge.  

 

****

A few smaller archer class single seat scout ships managed to recover from the blackout blast, and chased the Horizon through the field. Smaller bits of planetary debris deflected off their shields. 

Yune focused on speed-flying over, around, and under free-floating asteroids. 

Behind him, the sound of Terra laughing and squealing cut into the tension. She was punch drunk from exhaustion. Little girl giggling wasn’t something he would ever expect to hear in a life-or-death situation. Screaming was usually the preferred choice for someone untrained in aerial combat.

His little Squeaker was just mentally done.

One of the Regent scouts failed to pull up in time, and smashed into a careening rock. 

They were talented, but these pilots had no idea who they were up against. Apparently they’d never heard of him.  

The Horizon shot out of the field into the freedom of open space… right for a Regent blockade.

“It worked,” Will cheered. 

“Put your pants on, Sparky. It’s not over yet,” Yune barely got the words out before a new threat appeared at their starboard side. 

A Regent Nebula class, mid-sized exploration and attack vessel carved a path straight for the smaller bulk of the light freighter. The Regent ship was easily three times its size.

“Making the jump to FTL in three...two...,” Yune powered up the drive. 

The com suddenly crackled to life. A commanding, mature feminine voice clearly came through. [Mikran vessel, this is the Regent vessel, Morning Star. Power down your drive and prepare to be boarded.]

“Morning star?” Terra’s laughter vanished.

Adrenaline shot through Will’s blood. No… it couldn’t be. It had to be someone else. 

Yune opened his end of the channel. “Let me think. No.”

An image forced itself up on a holographic screen just above the Horizon’s bridge controls. Someone on that ship pushed their signal through to get a look at the bridge crew.

Both children’s jaws dropped in shock like they had seen a ghost. 

The person looking back at them was supposed to be dead - killed three years ago. 

Will’s mouth went dry. 

Captain Tevara Linell’s stern, purple eyes stared back from beneath her short dark hair. Her gaze shifted to the children’s stunned expressions. They didn’t look more than a few months older than the day she’d rescued them, which she instantly noted to be odd. They should at least be taller. Nevertheless, the ends of her lips curled up just enough to show a smile. [Two-Twelve and Two-Forty-Six. Thank god you’re alive.] 

\---------

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FUN FACT #26:  
> The Horizon might have three decks, but the ship is still considered small by freighter standards.  
> The third deck is only big enough to hold the forward lounge, a small galley, two storage areas (for the kitchen and otherwise), a bathroom with an enclosed toilet, and a ceiling-head shower (the whole ceiling head can either use recycled and treated water, or be used as a sonic shower. For resource reasons, it's mostly used as a sonic shower. One person can fit in it comfortably. Two is a stretch.) It has four single occupant cabins, each with a bunk up against the window that's a little bigger than a twin sized bed, a desk, a small closet, and a set of drawers built into the bulkhead. It would feel cramped for two adults. Of course, there's a crawl space between each deck.
> 
> She's very maneuverable in the right hands.


End file.
